39th Anniversary Review: #61 The Pentagon Spy

[tomswift2002]

The Pentagon Spy
Published: 1980
Publisher: Wanderer Books (1980-1986), Minstrel Books (1988-late 1990's), Grosset & Dunlap (2005-2013 physical/digital)
Author: Vincent Buranelli
Other Hardy Boys by Author: #20 The Mystery Of the Flying Express (1970 Revised), #22 The Flickering Torch Mystery (1971 Revised), #49 The Bombay Boomerang (1970), #51 The Masked Monkey (1972), #55 The Witchmaster's Key (1976), #56 The Jungle Pyramid (1977), #57 The Firebird Rocket (1978), #63 The Mummy Case (1980), #64 Mystery of Smuggler's Cover (1980), #65 The Stone Idol (1981), #71 Track of The Zombie (1982), #75 Trapped At Sea (1982), #77 The Crimson Flame (1983)

Plot: First valuable antique weather vanes are stolen in Pennsylvania Dutch Country and Frank and Joe are hired to catch the thieves. Meanwhile, their father is asked to find a missing Navy employee and a top-secret government document. What is the connection between the missing weather vanes and the Pentagon spy? The final chapters of this thrilling mystery uncover a stunning revelation!

Review: Currently I'm up to Chapter 15.  It is an interesting story.  The Hardy's don't really get onto the whole "Pentagon Spy" part until Chapter 12, and then they really get deep into international espionage, and somehow Chesapeake Bay ties into both mysteries.  The second mystery is the antique weather vane mystery, where the Hardy's need to find out who and why someone is stealing antique weather vanes from people in Pennsylvania.

Chet appears during the weather vane mystery section, but then he leaves to represent Bayport High in a state archery competition.  But in the first couple of chapters we also have Tony Prito, Biff Hooper and Iola Morton show up.  No sign of Callie Shaw.

I remember first reading this book back around 1995, and back then I didn't realize that it had only been 15 years since the book was first published.  But still, when you think about it, The Pentagon Spy was the first Hardy Boys story to be published in the 1980's, the first of two decades that would see the majority of Hardy Boys stories published to date (the 90's would be the next). In 1980 we got five books (The Hardy Boys Survival Handbook came out in 1980, along with #'s 61-64), but by 1989 there would be 20 books a year (12 Casefiles, 6 Mystery Stories, and usually 2 SuperMystery'88).

However, this is also the first Hardy Boys book to be published in the decade that I was born.  But it is still older than me.

[MacGyver]

With The Pentagon Spy's storyline involving The Hardy Boys dealing with international espionage, it's interesting to see it play out in the Digests, in comparison to the numerous times it happened in the Casefiles.

[tomswift2002]

Well the international espionage plot in "The Pentagon Spy" was a B-plot.  Really the book the A-plot was the weather vane Mystery.

But with the covers, it's interesting that "The Pentagon Spy" only got 1 Revised cover, and that was in 1988.  And that scene on the 1988 cover comes from Chapter 15, whereas the original 1980 cover doesn't depict any scene, but an amalgamation of images.

[tomswift2002]

Overall, I found the book to be pretty good, and I would give it a rating of 7.5/10.