Mystery

An intriguing picture cover, but a very ridiculous plot. The Hardy Boys jump from New York to Switzerland to the Yucatan to solve the theft of a large deposit of gold bars. Two glaring issues that I had with this books are.... SPOILER ALERT -- it took them over a hundred plus pages to realize that Zemog, a potential villain, is actually Gomez when spelled backward. And Gomez is actually not a bad guy. I figured out that name switch immediately. Not sure if I knew this when I read this book decades ago. Also, the whole part with Frank and Joe finding a "lost" pyramid rather easily when many explorers before them had failed was complete rubbish. The Hardy Boys have a lot of luck on their sides when it comes to solving mysteries. But this one was too far over the top. Overall, Jungle Pyramid is about the worst story in the canon. ( )

When a consignment of gold is stolen from a New York mint, private detective Fenton Hardy is hired to investigate the theft. Hardy enlists his sons, 18-year-old Frank and 17-year-old Joe, to assist him with the case, as well as their friends, Chet, Biff, and Tony. While the boys are following a lead at a museum, a valuable gold statue is stolen and museum personnel hire Frank and Joe to investigate the theft. Clues send Frank and Joe first to Switzerland and then to Mexico.

I read only a handful of the Hardy Boys mysteries when I was in elementary and middle school. I was primarily a Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew girl. I was drawn to Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and occasionally the Hardy Boys by the travel aspect of many of the stories. These books launched me on a lifetime of armchair travels mainly through mysteries.

Sadly, this Hardy Boys adventure didn't work for me as an adult reader. It's implausible that a mint or a museum would entrust the investigation of a gold theft to teenagers. It's also implausible that teenagers would travel internationally and be able to rent cars and hotel rooms at 17 and 18 years old. Is there a company anywhere in the world that will rent a car to someone under 25? However, the target audience would like this aspect of the book as they look forward to the independence of young adulthood.

The flaws that I couldn't overlook had to do with the travel aspect. I know these books are formulaic, but I had always hoped that there was an attempt to include accurate information about the locations around the world for educational reasons. Apparently not. Most of the Mexican action is centered in Yucatán near Merida and Chichen Itza. I've visited Yucatán a few times and read about the area in preparation for travel, so I had enough knowledge of the area to spot some errors. The biggest error is a river scene involving alligators. One of the unusual features of Yucatán is that the fresh water is underground. There are no rivers above ground. There aren't alligators, either, but there are crocodiles. Between the implausibility of the plot elements and the inaccuracies of the setting, I didn't find much to like about this book. ( )

I have read many Hardy Boys books before. The jungle pyramid, by Franklin W. Dixon was definitely one of my favorites and I would rate it 4 stars.

Frank and Joe Hardy are the sons of the famous private investigator Fenton Hardy. In this book, Fenton is working on a puzzling case of a gold robbery.

Fenton needs some help finding the gold so he calls upon his two teenage sons Frank and Joe. Frank and Joe have worked on many cases before and are excited to get the chance to work on this one they are sent on a wild goose chase to Zurich and Mexico before they find that the thief is right under their noses.

As I said before, I have read many Hardy Boys books before this one. I really enjoy them because I think that they have the perfect amount of suspense and action. You never get bored because there is always something interesting happening. It makes you want to keep reading because you never know what is going to happen next. This book is a real page-turner.

Another reason why I enjoyed this book is there is a very surprising twist in the end. I won’t say what the twist is, for it will ruin the book. But I will say that it brings a large element of irony into the book.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to others. I would also read more of these books myself. I would rate this book 4 stars. ( )