Customer Reviews

Secret of Skeleton Island

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the sixth in the Three Investigator series. "The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure" precedes this book, and "The Mystery of the Fiery Eye" follows. As we learned in previous books, the Three Investigators are Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews. Jupiter is the intelligent, sometimes inadvertently arrogant member of the group. Pete Crenshaw is typically the muscle of the group. Pete is usually quite fearless. Bob Andrews, who began the series with a broken leg, works at the library and handles records and research for the group. Bob's cast is off now but his leg is still weak.

The three boys travel to Skeleton Island and discover that the island is home to a ghost. The ghost rides the merry-go-round at an abandoned amusement park. The amusement park is to be the site of a film, but the ghostly happenings on the island are frightening local workers away and impeding the progress of the movie. In addition, the island was also supposedly the location where a pirate abandoned his treasure. Local treasure hunters have a habit of trespassing on the island to search for the treasure whenever someone finds a gold doubloon on or near the island. As if these mysteries were not enough, crooks may have hidden their loot near the island.

As with most of the stories in this series, this book was enjoyable to read. However, this book is weaker than most of the previous books in this series. The mystery was relatively mundane and the threats to the boys were frequently accidental rather than intentional. I always recommend starting with the first book in this series, "The Secret of Terror Castle," and I make that recommendation even stronger in the case of this book. You will gain a much better impression of the Three Investigators by starting at the beginning rather than with this book.

Quite a few children's mystery book series have become classics. Most people are familiar with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Tom Swift. Even the Boxcar Children are relatively well-known. However, Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators are well-written books that offer an intelligent, interesting and more contemporary alternative to many of the earlier classic series. Many people recall the earlier series well, but the Three Investigators series, which Robert Arthur wrote and debuted in 1964, has, for now, largely been overshadowed by the other series and generally forgotten. Fortunately, all of these books are available either from Amazon or from other internet sources.

Enjoy!

In this adventure, the Three Investigators venture far away from Rocky Beach, California--3000 miles away to a haunted island on the east coast where Pete's father is working to restore an old thrill park for a movie he is working on. Having met with stolen equipment and the appearance of a ghost, the boys are sent for to figure out who is trying to keep the movie company away from Skeleton Island. The boys meet with danger and duplicity at every turn, it seems, getting themselves into even more trouble than usual--several times by their own doing. ...

There aren't really any plot twists or surprises in this story. What seems to me to be the biggest clue to the whole mystery flops out at you like a dead fish right in the middle of the book, and you have to wait until the end to see Jupiter finally seize upon it. Overall, though, it is still a pretty good story. It's hard to go wrong when you are writing about pirates, ghosts, and treasure. My childhood obsession with the secret headquarters at the Salvage Yard obviously continues because I certainly missed it in this book. The boys seemed to be somewhat out of their element here, and it shows. Of course, nothing can stop them from solving a mystery once they are on the case.

The book is about three investagators that are taping a movie,but well they are taping they acutually experience the tragic story that happend 10 years ago! Trust me you would love this story! Well I'm not finished with the book yet so I don't know the rest but it's really good so far!That's my review!

I rate The Mystery of Skeleton Island as one of the VERY BEST of the Three Investigator series. It proved that Jupiter, Pete and Bob can handle any mystery that comes their way - even if it's on the other side of the country! With this story, the reader is transported out of Rocky Beach for the first time as the boys join Pete's dad on the set of the movie "Chase Me Faster." Thrills and chills abound as a ghost terrorizes the set of the movie. So far it seems as if Random House is only re-issuing the Robert Arthur titles. Hopefully Random House will see that there is still a huge fan base that has been longing for more adventures of those three intrepid slueths from Rocky Beach. I would highly recommend The Secret of Skeleton Island - and every Three Investigator book - to any parent discouraged that their child won't read. BUY THIS BOOK!!!

Jupiter, Pete, and Bob fly east to help Pete's dad with a movie project he's working on. The production company wants to film an exciting chase scene on a roller coaster at an old abandoned amusement park on Skeleton Island, but things keep breaking or going missing. So, the boys are called in to do a little snooping around and maybe find out who's causing the problems. It'll give them the chance to practice their scuba diving, too, and maybe even look for some of that famed pirate treasure the locals claim lies in the nearby waters.

Quite exciting at times, but not one of my `most favorite' from this old favorite series I loved as a kid. Still, a good mystery with lots of clues to follow as the story progresses, and my son and I recently enjoyed it. As with a few others in the beginning of the series, a young foreign boy who faces local persecution figures prominently in their adventures as a sub-plot. But I thought this one was a little easier to figure out than some others have been (... or perhaps I'm just remembering from all the times I read it as a kid?). Still, a highly recommended series for kids who like a good mystery (try to find the Alfred Hitchcock versions over the Hector Sebastian ones if you can).

If you're looking for a series to make your kids think without knowing that they are... this one is for them. Very well written series that will increase their vocabulary in leaps and bounds while thoroughly entertaining them and keeping them on the edge of their seats the whole time.

It was a very good book and it is refreshing that it can be read by all ages.

This book is a suspencefull mystery that you'll want to read for hours!!

I loved this book and you will too!!!

This book is a great book. You can't tell who the bad guy is at all! The story really twists and you may start to think that Chris is the bad guy. Chris is a boy who looks for the treasure that a pirate was supposed to dump into the water. The 3 investigators go on a trip to Skelleton island to shoot a picture, but really to discover the secret of a ghost that is haunting Bob Andrews dad movie crew. When they come during a storm a guy takes and strands the 3 investigators on an island. That is were they meet Chris! There are quite a few suspicious people that I suspected. This is one of the best books out of the series(in my opinion). This book may look stupid but it is a great book. And beware you will be staying up all night reading this book!

It is great to build the collection of all "The Three Investigator" books for our own children now! What happy memories these books bring back to those of us who read them ourselves "many" years ago...(or at least it seems like many). Great reading to pass on to the next generation!!