Customer Reviews

The Secret Warning (The Hardy Boys, No. 17)

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

 

 

Just like the last Hardy Boys book, "A Figure in Hiding," this book is somewhat less thrilling than the others. This time the Hardys are seeking the golden head of Pharaoh Rhamaton IV, which was supposedly on board a sunken freighter, the Katawa. The Hardy Boys journey to nearby Whalebone Island where they receive the "secret warning." However, secret warning seems to be an oxymoron as the warning is received from a lighthouse. The sender of the warning did not want to be known at that time, but he wanted the Hardys to see the warning.

As the story proceeds the boys encounter a rather suspicious group of sailors on a salvage ship operating near where the Katawa sank. The Hardys believe the salvage ship might be attempting to recover the head from the Katawa. Later the Hardy boys discover even more suspicious evidence on the Katawa itself.

Later the boys discover that there is a sunken U-boat (a World War II German submarine) near where the Katawa sank. The boys also discover they have allies from an unexpected place.

As with most Hardy Boys books, there are questions galore. Who is the ghost of the pirate on Whalebone Island? What is the significance of the U-boat? Where is the golden pharaoh's head? Who is trying to warn the Hardys to stay away from Whalebone Island? The answer to these and many other questions are revealed as the pages of this mystery unfold.

This story is another story that has less excitement than many of the other early books in this series. I was somewhat jaded by this point and knew immediately that the ghost was a man, and was just a little bored with the author's shallow deceptions in this book. I am still happy that I read the book, but it is one of the weaker entries in this series.

Though the Hardy Boys series is written in a relatively archaic fashion, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are excellent. The stories were once recommended for children ages 10 to 14. As children are exposed to more violence and seem to require greater levels of stimulation, the recommended age range has move to 9 to 12. I think any child capable of reading some of the challenging words in these books will enjoy them, regardless of how tame most of the action may be. 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.

I read these as a kid, and now reading to my grandson. He LOVES them.

This review concerns the revised 1966 edition. Frank and Joe help their father investigate for a shipping line which suspects that the owner of a valuable Egyptian treasure is trying to defraud their insurance company by claiming that the treasure was aboard their freighter, the Katawa, when it sank off Whalebone Island near Bayport. Also, Frank and Joe are haunted by the ghost of a pirate said to have haunted Whalebone Island years ago. This book sounds like it shouldn't be bad, but for whatever reason I never found that I was very interested in it. Very few of the chapter endings left me with the feeling that I had to read more. That said, for anyone who is going to read this title, read the revised edition because it is better than the original, which completely lacked a mystery and was really nothing more than an adventure story.

This probably rates more like 4 stars, but I added the 5th to compensate for all the bad reviews of the old 1938 edition that for some reason are showing up here on the 1966 edition page. Whether people are posting reviews for the wrong edition, or Amazon is combining them for some reason I'm not sure, but it really isn't fair for the score to be so low. The 1966 edition was revised significantly and is a different & much better book than the 1938.

Most of the criticisms surrounding the 1938 edition have been "fixed' so to speak in this newer 1966 version. (Much as they were...maybe even more so...in the later 1960's edition of "What Happened At Midnight".)

I won't reveal many details as I personally don't like spoilers. I will say though that this edition of "The Secret Warning" features numerous plot twists that keep you guessing and wondering "who's who" and "who's good or bad" right up to the end. There were several times when I thought I knew where a particular plot thread was going, only to find out later it related to a different concurrent plot or was important for a different reason than I had originally suspected. (As with several of the HB books, there is more than one plot or story running throughout the novel...sort of an A-B format.) There were several plot elements that remained unsolved all the way up to the end of the book, and as I closed in on the last couple chapters I kept wondering how all the loose ends and twists were finally going to tie together.

As mentioned in other reviews, a good bit of the story takes place around an undersea salvage operation related to a case that Fenton Hardy is currently working on. Ocean storms, trapped scuba divers & underwater treachery abound. Much of the story though also occurs in & around art museums & art dealers in both Bayport & New York City, a spooky old island with an abandoned lighthouse and a ghostly legend, a cursed ancient Egyptian artifact, and a hotel in Philadelphia.

All in all a really good Hardy Boys adventure in my opinion. One of the best of the 60's 'blue cover' editions.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE APPLEWOOD EDITION WITH THE "MAN GOING OUT A WINDOW" ON THE BOOK COVER. Not the Grosset & Dunlap edition with the picture of the boys in their boat by a light house!


While I generally prefer the original texts over the re-written books of the 1960's, this one is an exception. This early text edition dwells on the deep-sea diving craze of the late 1930's. Not Scuba-diving (scuba tanks were not yet in use), but diving with an airhose attached to a pump on the boat.

The bottom line is that there is almost no mystery to this book, it is a dated adventure book about diving. If you have an interest in diving you will enjoy this trip back in time. If you enjoy a good mystery you will have trouble getting through this.

The revised text of the 1960's is MUCH MUCH BETTER! One of the few improvements made when the books were re-written.

I think that The Secret Warning is an average read. What I mean by average is that it is no more exciting in comparison with the other books Franklin wrote. That is why I gave it a four out of five points. The reason why I didn?t give it a perfect score is because of its lack of interest. I think that the whole story itself could have been more interesting if it had a more original plot. It is not a mystery like I expected it to be; it was more like an adventure story. Judging by what it said on the back of the book, I thought it would be a mystery story. Instead it turned out to be a plain adventure. This story is about an island that the boys visit to find a hidden treasure. Someone tells the boys to leave the island fast before they perish. The Hardy?s do as they are told, but they come back to see who is threatening to kill them. This time they get shot at. Luckily, all of the bullets miss them. So, instead of going back to the island, they research the island?s history to learn about its residents. Once they do that, they are able to figure out who shot at them. However, the reason for the shooting is more difficult to figure out. They later find out that there is a treasure there after all, and the residents naturally do not want anyone to know about it. In the end, the person who shoots at them gets arrested, and the treasure's secret place remains his secret.
I think this is a predictable story, and that is why I give it a 4 out of five.

This review concerns the original 1938 edition. Frank, Joe and Chet join a deep-sea diving operaton that is trying to recover a fortune in gold and jewels from a sunken oceanliner. While this book is not as awful as the really bad volumes of the series, it isn't good and is probably more deserving of 1.5 stars than the 2 star rating that I gave it. There is no mystery in this book; it is more of an adventure story. Frank and Joe meet a deep-sea diver who mistakenly leaves their home with some of Mr. Hardy's papers, so Frank and Joe must track him down to retrieve the papers. Upon completion of this they are asked to remain with the diving operation which is raising a ship. Once this is over, they remain with the crew which then moves on to the recovery of the treasure from the oceanliner. Because the book moves from one phase to another I found it very choppy and the first 150, or so, pages were rather boring and unimportant. The criminals in the book seem more like two-bit hoodlums than anything else and their motive for hating the Hardys is rather weak. As far as the writing is concerned, the book is lacking in the rich language and well-described scenes that characterize the low volumes of the original editions. For fans who are also interested in deep-sea diving, you may want to read this book because there is plenty of that, but otherwise don't bother with this one because you'll only find yourself hoping that the end comes soon so that you can get finished this book.

the book was about Frank and Joe on an island with a secret warning from a light house . It said keep away hardys wich they don't care and go in and saw their dad on the floor hit over the head . The hardys searched over the building and don't see anyone.

Good transaction and prompt shipping. I purchased 8 of the series of these Hardy Boy books as a gift for a friend. I have not actually seen them, but I know the friend is pleased. I am not going to individually rate every book; it would be the same rating for all of them.

Who ever keeps changing the published date to 1938 on this please stop. Books did not have ISBN numbers in 1938. Also the image provided by Amazon does not match a 1938 edition. This listing is supposed to be for the 1966 edition. Create a new page for the 1938 Edition.