The Viking Symbol Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 42) [Hardcover]

Franklin W. Dixon (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

For cliffhanging suspense and thrilling action read THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERY STORIES- featuring the thrilling adventures of America's favorite detective duo, Frank and Joe Hardy. Millions of young readers have teamed up with the Hardy Boys, helping them in their quest to bring criminals to justice.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap; 1St Edition edition (December 1, 1962)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0448089424
• ISBN-13: 978-0448089423
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Series > Mystery & Detective > Hardy Boys
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( D ) > Dixon, Franklin W.

More About the Author

Franklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors (Leslie McFarlane, a Canadian author being the first) who wrote The Hardy Boys novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Viking Runes Lead to Treasure!, August 16, 2006

By 

Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing" (Columbus, Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Viking Symbol Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 42) (Hardcover)

The front teaser to this book promises that this story will be one that thrills Franklin W. Dixon's legion of fans. This sentence has a couple of problems. First, Franklin W. Dixon never existed. Second, this story is far from thrilling. Indeed, this story is one of the slowest moving of the Hardy Boys series.

Frank and Joe Hardy and their friends Chet Morton, Tony Prito and Biff Hooper join Frank and Joe's famous father Fenton Hardy and his associate Sam Radley in searching for criminals around the Great Slave Lake in Canada. Mysteries abound as the friends try to learn who is robbing cabins around the lake and who has stolen a Viking rune stone that may prove that Vikings visited western Canada centuries ago, but may also be a clue to a fabulous treasure.

Unfortunately, this story seems to plod, though I am unable to point to any one reason why. I was unable to become concerned with the plight of the Hardys at any point in the novel. I think part of the reason is that the boys, their friends and their father seemed to escape from danger so readily and easily. Thus, I found it difficult to sustain any concern for any them. If the boys would have appeared to be in perilous danger and it was more difficult for them to escape, I might have more involved in the story. Instead, each time the Hardys or their friends got into any trouble, they easily got back out of trouble. I found myself wondering how quickly I could finish the book instead of being thrilled.

This story is one of the weaker stories of the first 59 books. Fans of the series will want this book to complete their collection. However, new fans should start at the beginning of the series to get a better impression of the series.

The publisher recommends the Hardy Boys series for ages 8 to 12 because the series is relatively tame for the previous target audience of ages 10 to 14. This particular book is a very good fit for the new age range. 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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Viking Symbol Mystery, July 29, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Viking Symbol Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 42) (Hardcover)

This book is pretty good, because I like Canada, it contains some good plane action, and I laughed at the buffalo stampede. I'd be frozen for a day if I found a Viking rune stone. Another funny part in the story is when Chet wants to eat the bread in the cave, and his appetite brings total sucess of having solved half of the mystery. I can't imagine Chet eating rocks, or he'd eat his teeth too! In the end it seems that it's as easy to catch the theives as finding the rune stone. This was my 6th book and I really enjoyed it, as usual.

3.0 out of 5 stars Why the Viking Symbol Mystery was good and bad, May 24, 2010

By 

Sixth Grade Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardy Boys 42: The Viking Symbol Mystery (Kindle Edition)

Why the Hardy Boys Book -The Viking Symbol Mystery - was good and bad


The Hardy Boys books chronicle the adventures of young detectives Frank and Joe Hardy. Frank and Joe are the sons of the famous private eye Fenton Hardy. The brothers help to solve challenging cases aided by their friends Tony, Biff and Chet. In this book the Hardys have to find a mysterious Viking rune stone that leads to a fabulous treasure. Also in pursuit of the riches is a gang of thugs led by the cunning John Kelly. Also in the gang is Abner Dulac, a desperate trapper who will go to any lengths to get the treasure. Throughout their adventures, the Hardys and their friends meet new allies like the knowledgeable trapper Caribou. They also have many clever tactics and hair rising escapes as they try to locate the rune stone and stop the gang.

This book was a pretty good read; it had lots of action and clever plans. The Hardys came up with many smart ways to capture members of the gang and to locate the rune stone. The characters were likeable and clever and the gang was a good enemy for the Hardys to go up against. My two complaints about this book would be that the dialogue sounded like something out of Scooby-Doo and the plans--although clever--were predictable in their outcomes. The author gave too many hints as to how the plans would turn out so there were really no surprises. Overall, this was a good book and I rate it three stars out of five.