#96 WIPEOUT (32nd Anniversary Review)

[tomswift2002]

Published: June 1989
Author: Unknown as of January 2021
Publisher: Minstrel Books (1989-199?) no digital edition

Plot: Surf's Up, And The Hardys Are Riding A Dangerous Wave!

Mediterranean Mayhem And Mystery!

Frank and Joe are in the south of France for the famous Almanarre Cup windsurfing championship.  They're investigating a strange series of "accidents" that threaten to put champion windsurfer Doug Newman out of the competition...and into serious danger!

While looking into the case of the sabotaged surfer, the Hardys stumble on to a load of counterfeit cash.  The criminal waters run deep, and the stakes are much higher than the boys first believed.  Confronting attackers from the sea and the air, Frank and Joe discover that if they're going to make waves, they had better be prepared for a fight---or a WIPEOUT!

Review: This was an interesting book.  I had read it in the 90's and early-2000's, but I had forgot many details, such as the fact that there are multiple crooks running around in this book.  If this book had been written during the Undercover Brothers era, it would've been split up into a trilogy (i.e. Murder House Trilogy), with each plot line being one book, and ending with one bad guy.  But it works better in a book like Wipeout, where the three criminals are in the one book and the author isn't being forced to have the Hardys go from one place to another just to fill up page space. 

Also, this book shares it's title with a 1977 episode from The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries TV show.  But aside from both the episode and the book having the Hardy's being at surfing competitions, there's no other connection, as Wipe Out (1977), is set in Hawaii, and deals with hotel robberies, while Wipeout has the Hardys in France finding out who wants to take out a surfer, shut down the Villa Dombray that is owned by Doug Newman's fiancee, Catherine Dombray and who is counterfeiting French franc notes. 

The counterfeit French franc notes plot and the villa really reminded me of the 1995 The Hardy Boys episode The Last Laugh[/i], which Wipeout is closer to than the 1977 Wipe Out, with the French settings and the counterfeiting plot.  Of course the counterfeit plot is also a throwback to both versions of The Secret of the Old Mill.

I also found one scene, in 2020-21, that was old-fashioned.  Frank needed to get cash and his plan was to cash a traveller's cheque.  So he gave a cheque to Catherine Dombray, who was able to give Frank the cash he wanted.  In 2021, most banks don't issue traveller's cheques anymore, since many traveller's use debit and credit cards, or other electronic payment options when they travel.

Rating: 6.5 out 10

[MacGyver]

Thanks for the review. I don't remember much on this one other than the fact that it has to do with surfing. It would be interesting to know from surfers if the book is actually accurate in its depiction of the sport.
   And yes, it is always a bit surreal reading books that features things like traveller's cheques- perfectly normal in 1989- and noting how funny it is to think of using them in 2021. Technology and the world moves on and changes through time and often times it moves quite rapidly it seems.

[tomswift2002]

From what I see, travellers cheque's were first issued around 1770 AD, so it's an old institution that's been removed in just 25 years.  Their decline started in the mid-90's.