Customer Reviews

The Mystery of Monster Mountain (Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators)

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When I first read this book I thought it was too fanciful, yet I am not so sure after reading my Bible and considering the dinosaur described by Job... Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox Job 40:15.

M.V Carey began her career as a Disney writer in California and worked on the screenplay for THE SWORD AND THE STONE. Carey continued the legacy of Robert Arthur who initially wrote THE THREE INVESTIGATORS. The Disney influence is evident here as the detectives head to the Sierra Nevada mountains in an adventure that brings them into contact with "Bigfoot" and a "telephatic" vegetarian who communes with the animals on Monster Mountain. Head detective Jupiter Jones and his agency are on a new case!

The two Bavarian brothers who work in the Jones Junkyard, Hans and Konrad, travel to visit their cousin Anna who- recently married- has her own lodge after years of hard work. Something is monstrously wrong as the two brothers and the young detectives visit the mountain inn. Anna's new husband uses a tranquilizer dart gun on is daily trips up the hill behind the house and insists on building a large strangely shaped pool without cause. Jupiter Jones must solve this case as he deals with the two eccentric guests in the inn who compete for his attention.

The plot is contrived and monotonous as clues are revealed in overheard conversations and Anna's husband Havermeyer reveals his criminal intent early on. After a mysterious night attack, Havermeyer is seen cleaning tracks leading away from the house the next morning. Anna asks the detectives to look for an important key she hid and forgot about, yet she is a highly competent young businesswoman. Why? The plot quickly becomes a case of mistaken identity.

THE THREE INVESTIGATORS were never as popular as the HARDY BOYS and NANCY DREW, yet they have had a remarkable copywrite persistence and influence world wide. The clean themes and plots the three young detectives find themselves in resonate well with today's parents. I have often wondered whether Christian publishers would find a ready made series in THE THREE INVESTIGATORS by purchasing the book rights at a relative discount to other titles? A "new" series from this half forgotten old series renamed TRUTH TRACKERS: THE THREE INVESTIGATORS or maybe KING'S KIDS may resonate well with Christan teens.Publishers are you out there?

As for the monster...who knows... maybe Bigfoot really exists and maybe some people can communicate with animals!The next time you vacation in the Sierra Nevada listen carefully to the things that go bump in the night and take heed. The Bible describes the Levithan...a survivor of the age of dinosaurs (Job 41:1) so who can say whether the tale of Monster Mountain is so fanciful?