5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Holmesian Triumph, August 26, 2001
This review is from: The Mystery of the Screaming Clock (The Three Investigators No. 9) (Paperback)
I am going back and re-reading these books that I loved as a boy, and I called the eighth book in the series, The Mystery of the Silver Spider, the quintessential Three Investigators book. However, The Mystery of the Screaming Clock is in many ways even better. While Silver Spider was full of great action, this book is more cerebral and intellectually stimulating. In terms of pure logic, deductive reasoning, and plain old "smarts," this book is masterful--the puzzles left by the mysterious Mr. Clock would challenge even the great Sherlock Holmes. Oh, how I would love to have been (or be now) Jupiter Jones. This whole mystery starts when Jupiter finds a screaming clock in the salvage yard and sets out, as a pure intellectual challenge, to find out who made this clock scream and why. Quickly, the boys are involved in a far-reaching mystery involving stolen paintings, an innocent man framed and imprisoned for the theft, an entire room of screaming clocks, dangerous thugs, and the singular international art thief Hugenay, first encountered in The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot. I wanted to try and figure out the coded messages myself, to see if I could match the wits of Jupe, but the book was just too interesting for me to put down long enough to test my own deductive skills. On a final note, this book contains the funniest line of the series so far when Jupiter finally gives in to Pete's needling to stop using so many big words and says, "Like, it blows my mind to the outer reaches of our galaxy."
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They Don't Write Like Them This Anymore!, October 7, 2009
This is a great story! Like all the first dozen Three Investigators books, it's a whole heck of a lot of fun and makes you want to be the Fourth Investigator.
Its also very retro kitsch to its era, but I think young readers that go for quality, plot or content will see beyond that the way one does when reading classic literature, Ian Fleming or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
You adopt the attitude "who cares about their mode of transport or communication device, it's the story."
And it's a heck of a lot more fun that classic literature!
The kids always get placed in a serious tight spots like being kidnapped, caught in revolutions in third world countries, captured by villains, left in sea caves with tides rising, a midst bank robberies, or almost run off cliff highways, but they get out of it by action and Jupiter Jones clever wit!
I admit when I heard the title of this one, I was thinking "dud" and "how the heck are clocks going to scream or even be interesting as a plot device?" But it subtly under promised and WAY over delivered. The story is clever, moves quickly, places them in tricky jams, and allows them to use their wits to get out.
After you read a few Three Investigators books, you know some of the plot devices and the writing formula, but they are all good and its like saying you know what comes after dinner--dessert--that's not a bad thing, or that James Bond will get the bad guy in his film--that's why you went to the theater, to see him do it.
I was a Hardy Boys fan until I found Three Investigators books. I flat out love reading these books and credit old friend, Shane Black (screenwriter Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Last action Hero), for introducing me and getting me hooked. If anyone knows telling stories, he does. I can't recommend the series or this one enough.
I would read the first 12 in order, but strongly recommend the Mysteries of: the Terror Castle, the Green Ghost and the Skeleton Key, as well as the Silver Spider which had one minor slow point before it went roller coaster.
I also recommend getting the titles when Hitchcock was still involved as a plot device (intro and conclusion) and one can usually pick up decent editions in Ebay or Amazon used for $7.00 to $15.00 for a respectable and readable hard cover copy (only get the hard covers).
Side note: If you enjoyed the Three Investigators books back then, now, or for your kids, I suggest you check out "The 7 Scouts And The Mystery of The Commie Spies" here on Barnes & Noble which draws inspiration and homage to the Three Investigators books among others then and now. It could be likened to the Three Investigators books present day and has been described as "the Hardy Boys meets Ocean's Eleven and Mission: Impossible" or "the Goonies meets the Bourne Identity."
Happy reading!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Junkyard treasures and Jupiter Jones, March 2, 2001
This review is from: The Mystery of the Screaming Clock (The Three Investigators No. 9) (Paperback)
"Mystery of the Screaming Clock" was one of my very favorite Three Investigators books. The tale begins when Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews find a clock that "screams" mysteriously. As they try to discover why anyone would construct such a device, the mystery unfolds and their clues lead them to wild new places! Of course, I would never disclose the ending, but let me tell you, it's a shocker!
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