1/2013 Book Club Discussion: Speed Times Five (Hardy Boys Mystery #173)

[Hardy Sleuth]

I hope I do this right - I've never led a book discussion before. I've talked books with friends, though, of course.

You may post your comments/review of The Hardy Boys Mystery #173 Speed Times Five on this page. Hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I did!

So to get started, this book became one of my favorites as I was first reading it. Awesome action, pulse-pounding danger, and the brothers stay tough through all the literal twists and turns and use their brains and teamwork to solve the mystery.

Frank and Joe are in the cross-country and water Speed Times Five Adventure Race, starting at Fire Creek Mountain Resort in Canada, spread over six days, from the Laurentians to Vermont. There's a mix of biking, hiking, climbing, kayaking rapids, rappelling down a cliff, and a grand finale water race.

I like the way the author pointed out through conversation that Frank and Joe were in the race for the competition, not for the prizes, glory, and also not for the girls because their girlfriends are Callie and Iola.

The race starts and poor Joe, that was one scary ride without brakes!!!

You can picture the beautiful scenery as they're biking, and later hiking, on the cross-country trail and throughout the book, made me want to go check it out. But there's not just beautiful scenery, there's sabotage and serious danger along the way that could end up getting people killed.

During the kayak section of the race, and other times, we get to see one of the reasons that Frank and Joe are so very cool. Besides figuring out mysteries, and stopping criminals, they know that saving lives is the real win, much more important than winning a race. As Joe said, it was the right thing to do.

The book also does a good job pointing out that people shouldn't cut down huge sections of trees and all. Not only is it truly unwise, but it also led to danger for the Hardys and others, nearly killing them.

And whoa, that landslide was flat-out frightening!!!! I think I about held my breath while I was reading it!

Chet and Jamal did a good job helping Frank and Joe, as a support team for the race and as supporting characters. I think it's cool that Jamal's dad has an air taxi service and it was mentioned his job sometimes takes him to Montreal and Quebec.

And I love that the brothers turn a bad situation around after thugs were trying to beat them up.

The last section of the race in the water is awesome! Fantastic and intense action! How the Hardys outmaneuver what was thrown at them and stop the wrong is great!!! Cool stuff!!! The excitement was there, didn't stop - so yeah, this book rocks.

To sum it up: this is a great book and you should read it and see just how good it is!

[MacGyver]

Speed Times Five is a great read for all those reasons. It's been a while since I read it, but I do recall that Frank and Joe were involved in a sports competition featuring multiple racing sports. From that premise alone, I'm interested as a fan of sports in general. Of course, sports means competition and though The Hardys are content to compete just for the sake of trying their best against others' skill- it also leads some to tip the scales in their favor, and thus, we have the sabotage that goes on. And of course, The Hardy Boys work to stop it.

I like the way the author pointed out through conversation that Frank and Joe were in the race for the competition, not for the prizes, glory, and also not for the girls because their girlfriends are Callie and Iola.

I definitely like this too.

During the kayak section of the race, and other times, we get to see one of the reasons that Frank and Joe are so very cool. Besides figuring out mysteries, and stopping criminals, they know that saving lives is the real win, much more important than winning a race.  As Joe said, it was the right thing to do.

The book also does a good job pointing out that people shouldn't cut down huge sections of trees and all. Not only is it truly unwise, but it also led to danger for the Hardys and others, nearly killing them.

I also really like this. Frank and Joe always remember the real important things in life and keep their priorities straight.

..........

A few other things I noticed- the back of the book mistakenly calls Jamal by the last name of Watkins, rather than Hawkins.
It was neat having this book set in Canada to make yet another book where The Hardys solve a case in another country.
And of course, it's always great having Chet Morton on hand as well. He made a pretty strong number of appearances in the last few Digests. I also like that this book referenced his time as a TV star a few books before in #172 Trouble in Warp Space.

Overall, I enjoyed the book as well and think it's a great read.

hope I do this right - I've never led a book discussion before.  I've talked books with friends, though, of course. 

You did fine.

[Hardy Sleuth]

I also like that this book referenced his time as a TV star a few books before in #172 Trouble in Warp Space.

Oh, cool! That's one of the books I'm going to be reading soon!

Overall, I enjoyed the book as well and think it's a great read.

        You did fine.

Thank you, MacGyver!

[MacGyver]

You're welcome, Hardy Sleuth.