Best Of Enemies (31st Anniversary Review)

[tomswift2002]

Published: April 1991
Publisher: Archway Paperbacks (1991-2000)
Author: Unknown as of May 2022


Plot: The Berlin Wall has come tumbling down, and a major American agent -- code-named the Swallow -- wants to come home. On a top-secret mission for the Network, THE HARDY BOYS head to Memphis, where a mystery man named Pritchitt has promised to turn the agent over for a price. But a ruthless German spymaster, known only as Klaus, has vowed to beat Frank and Joe to the punch -- and shott Swallow out of the sky.

MEANWHILE...

NANCY DREW comes to the aid of Beau Davis, a guy with a bad case of the Memphis Blues. Accused of stealing a guitar once belonging to Elvis, he is now a prime suspect in a more ominous matter -- the murder of Pritchitt! In a case as twisty and treacherous as a Mississippi River current, Frank and Joe and Nancy are headed for a stunning rendezvous and revelation...

Review:  I remember special ordering this one in May 1998 and then reading it on my Grade 8 graduation trip.


Because of the timeframe of the story taking place after the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989 and from when the story was published, before the Soviet Union ceased to exist on December 31, 1991, I wonder if Larry Mike Garmon wrote this book, as his Strategic Moves also had the Hardy's dealing with fallout from the Berlin Wall during that time period.  Or maybe Ron Goulart wrote it, since he wrote Castle Fear which also took place in that time period (it was set within a week of Strategic Moves.)

But this book has to have one of the most action-oriented cover ever, with the car splashing into the water and everyone jumping.  . A clear classic!

[MacGyver]

I love how these books were current for their time and are nostalgic now for those of us who remember growing up during the tail end of the Cold War.
    I also love that The Network appears in this one!

[tomswift2002]

I was thinking, in Best of Enemies the Hardy's, Nancy and Bess drive around in a couple of red convertibles and I was wondering if a producer of the 95 TV series read this book and liked the idea of the Hardy's having a red convertible.

[MacGyver]

Maybe so!  

[tomswift2002]

I finished the book this morning.  In a way it felt like the author was trying to go for one more Cold War James Bond spy thriller but with the Hardy's, Nancy and Bess and it really worked well.  The Files-Casefiles continuity was originally designed to have those sort of stories, and even early advertising for the Hardy Boys Casefiles played up how the series was inspired by James Bond.

Even the subplots worked well.  Plus the author used the general assumption that the Swallow and Klaus were male operatives well so that the reveals at the end were unexpected in that the Swallow and Klaus were female agents.

I also found it interesting, considering that Best of Enemies was released in April 1991, the same month that the Tom Swift series of the Files-Casefiles continuity debuted, but the Swallow's full name was Madeline Swift.  There was no mention of her having any relation to Tom Swift Sr. and his family (of course Tom Swift Sr. was an only-child, but not much is known about his father Barton Swift and his extended family).

Anyway, aside from the author having none of the characters connect a clue early on to a tourist spot in Memphis (and it's not Graceland) which was pretty obvious, the book was really well written.

Also the author had the Hardy's, Nancy & Bess visit Memphis's Pyramid quite a bit.  From what I see online, the Pyramid opened in 1991, right around the time the book came out.  The Hardy's, Nancy and Bess would later see the real pyramids in Secrets of the Nile.

Rating: 9.5/10