Customer Reviews

The Arctic Patrol Mystery (Hardy Boys, No. 48)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'm reading some of the reviews for this book, and I'm kind of wondering if some of you are confusing this book for something else. All the action was relevant to the plot! And, in my opinion, action is what was lacking in many of the volumes of the series (after a certain point). This book is loaded with action, much of it truely dangerous. In many Hardy Boys books (recent ones) the enemy was so unthreatening that it was laughable. At least in this book, the villains actually do something other than sending threatening letters.

As for some of you complaining about a paper-thin plot, give me a break. This is the Hardy Boys! No books since Disappearing Floor actually had good plots!

The Disappearing Floor was (most likely) the last book actually written by Franklin W. Dixon. I know this because in the book after that, (Flying Express) the writing style was completely different, the the names of many locations changed. Also, after Disappearing Floor, the stories were no longer mysteries (Except maybe a couple,) they were action stories. So I'm wondering why you all thought this would be any different.

Yes, the story is predictable, yes, the mystery can be solved from the moment you find out about it, and yes, the plot was paper thin, but you can say that about every Hardy Boys book that came after Disappearing Floor, basically. The series has been going downhill since then, and Arctic Patrol Mystery happens to at least stand out. By itself, this book is a lackluster mystery story. But comparing it to the volumes of the series that came out before and after this....this wins.
If you want real mysteries, read the first 19 volumes of the series. If you want cool action stories that take place in many cool locations, read volumes 20 to 58. This gets 5 stars because I knew what to expect when I started reading it, and I was satisfied.

In "The Arctic Patrol Mystery" we follow Frank and Joe Hardy to Iceland in their quest to locate a missing man. What results is the boys being drawn into something much deeper: a desperate mission to foil a plot aimed at jeopardizing the space programme. This was a fairly average instalment in the Hardy Boys' series. Iceland makes for an interesting setting and this book was a lot better than the previous one I read, "The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior". It took a lot less effort to finish and I read it straight through in an hour. There is a fair amount of action although The Arctic Patrol lacks the suspense and intrigue of some of the better books in the series. This was one of the first Hardy Boys' mysteries I ever read, and while it isn't the best, it definitely isn't the worst either.

*Jenna Ryan*

This Hardy Boys adventure takes place in Iceland and is unbeliveably exiting. It is also a great description of both the beutyful Icelandic landscape and the characteristics of the people in Iceland. So you get a very good story and learn a lot on the same ride.

This book is the 48th book in the original Hardy Boys series. This book follows "The Mystery of the Whale Tattoo." The next book in the series is "The Bombay Boomerang." As many regular readers of the Hardy Boys know, Franklin W. Dixon was actually a pseudonym for the actual writers of the Hardy Boys. The author for this book was Andrew E. Svenson. Svenson authored four previous Hardy Boys books and would author four more after this book. Svenson also authored all the Happy Hollister books and a number of books in other well-known series.

This book is centered around two mysteries. Their father gives them the first mystery. The boys must travel to Iceland to locate a man named Rex Hallbjornsson so that he may receive insurance money left for him by a man whose life he save. What the boys have yet to learn is that a second mystery awaits them in Iceland, one that will put the boys and their friends Biff Hooper and Chet Morton in mortal danger!

The boys arrive safely in Iceland, but their safety is short-lived. The boys learn that a U.S. astronaut preparing for a moon mission has disappeared in Iceland. The boys now have two mysteries to solve. The boys charter a plane to fly where they believe they will find Rex Hallbjornsson, but the pilot turns out to be a criminal and the plane crashes. The boys barely escape with their lives.

Soon after the boys narrow escape, they learn that Chet and Biff have both disappeared. Now the boys have three mysteries to solve. The boys pursue lead after lead, on land, sea and air, and every time they seem to get close either a criminal threatens them or a criminal or a criminal just barely escapes. Even with the close encounters with criminals the boys do not know whether they are making progress in solving any of the mysteries.

Many mysteries await solutions for a reader. How will Frank and Joe find the missing astronaut? What about their original mystery, locating Rex Hallbjornsson. Is it possible that Rex Hallbjornsson is one of the criminal? What of their missing friends, Chet Morton and Biff Hooper? There are mysteries and excitement awaiting you in this book!

The final Hardy Boys book written in the 1960's, 42 years after Leslie McFarlane wrote the first Hardy Boys book, has a somewhat contemporary feel to it, though modern electronics are missing. There is action in this book and portions of the book (including airplane hijackings and several places where one of the boys could have died) are very exciting. Andrew E. Svenson held off on the answers until the very end of the book, providing a motivation for a reader to finish this book quickly.

The one thing that did disappoint me was less exciting cliff hangers. In the early books the cliff hangers at the end of the chapter demanded you read the next chapter. Though some of the chapter endings were exciting, others seemed mundane.

This book seems to be average for the series. I think the book is good enough to interest a first-time reader, but I recommend the first ten books in this series as the best place for a first-time reader to start.

The publisher recommends the Hardy Boys series for ages 9 to 12 because the series is relatively tame for the previous target audience of ages 10 to 14. Though the Hardy Boys series contains archaic information, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are fine. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.

Enjoy!

Frank, Joe, Chet and later Biff go to Iceland to search for a missing sailor who has been left a large sum of money in a will. While there, they become involved in the search for a missing U.S. astronaut. This is an excellent book for anyone planning a trip to Iceland because the author has included many bits of information about the island. Unfortunately, he forgot that this is a Hardy Boys MYSTERY story, because there is very little mystery to this book. The plot is incredibly boring. What little action or cliffhangers are in the book are usually something that has no connection to the mystery, such as a plane crash or somebody disappearing, and they are resolved by the first or second pages of the next chapter. The book is anti-climatic because the most important criminals are captured during chapter 18 and the remaining criminals are so unimportant that they aren't even given names. This is an awful book; so, unless you're a glutton for punishment, DON'T READ IT!!!

This WAS the worst book in the set, close runner up was Aztec Warrior. No plot, no good cliff hangers, weak writing. Don't waste your time reading it. Of the 58 original books volumes #48 & #43 were the 2 worst!!!

Franklin W. Dixon, the "should be Nobel laurette" and American genius, creates one of the most satisfying books with "The Arctic Patrol Mystery." It is of such epic proportions and yet so earthy that one is continually struck by the dichotomy. The heroes are simple, poor detectives; they are not great, they will never be great (unlike Achilles who was great all his life). The landscape is so expansive and beautiful that it is hard to imagine a more magnificent scene, and yet this is also a land of hardship and famine and cold death. The book operates on so many levels that all one can do is bathe in its beauty and try to absorb as much as possible; whether the names (Gylfi Hallbjörnsson is exquisite), the land shapes, the farmers life, the love, the hate, the passage of time, the pressure of living an independent, free life, all of this deeply impress you upon reading the work. It is something I enjoyed, enjoy, and hope to read every year hence, so that I may enjoy the epiphanic revelations it provides.

The Arctic Patrol Mystery is a very good and very interesting book.The way Chet helps to find the imposter,and the way he and his brother think.This is the best book I ever read.And I suggest that you should read this book to.

The Arctic Patrol Mystery is a boring story, with a lack of a good plot, very little mystery and weak writing. It's among the worst of the Hardy Boys stories. While the author gives us some interesting info about Iceland, the main story is very thin. Don't bother reading this one.

This book was the worst of The original 58 Hardy Boys. It lacked thought and skillful writing. All the suspense was created with potential dangers such as a car crash, a boat crash, someone falling, at the end of each chapter only to be rescued at the start of the next. Big Deal! I could write that. This book lacked an intricate plot that are found in so many of the other books. Very boring, unsuspenseful reading. I love The Hardy Boys Stories and to have a best book, you also need a worst. They cannot all be 5 stars. I rate an average book a 3. In my opinion, this just happens to be the worst book in the set.