Find Out In "The Number File" Case #17 in the Hardy Boys Casefiles

[tomswift2002]

The Number File

The Hardy Boys Casefiles #17

Published: July 1988

Publisher: Archway Paperbacks



After investiagating a credit card counterfieting operation in the US, Fenton Hardy asks his sons, Frank and Joe, to head to Bermuda for a vacation and to try and dig up some dirt on Bernhard Kruger, the suspected head of the counterfeiting operation...but so far the FBI and Fenton Hardy have been unable to get any evidence on Kruger.



Things start off peacefully in Bermuda.  The Hardy boys enjoy getting some rays while they spy via binoculars on Kruger's home.  Unfortunately, someone gets to suspicious of the boys activity and orders the boys rammed off the road. 



After surviving the fall of the cliff, the Hardy's discover a credit card nearby with the name of Alfred Montague on it...the same person that the boys are staying with while in Bermuda!  Is Alfred Montague a part of Kruger's gang, and if so, does that mean the boys are staying with a killer?  And what about Montague's daughter, Alicia?  Does she also want the Hardy Boys dead?  Find out in "The Number File" Case #17 In The Hardy Boys Casefiles.





Comments: After reading the very boring Haunted from the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series, this was quite refreshing.  There was lots of action, lots of crime and girl-looking from Joe.   



I'm assuming that "The Number File" was written by the same author as Casefiles #16 "Line Of Fire" considering that that volume was referenced as being their last case, whereas in a lot of Casefiles the previous volume is not mentioned.  The writing was also very consistent in keeping the action going, since the author would create a conflict and then return to building more conflict in the next chapter rather than just creating one conflict in one chapter and then immediately resolving it or having the Hardys through around useless speculation.  Instead he would have Frank and Joe each make a theory as to what happened and then build more conflict and tension into the story, or he would have both realize that they had to work together to escape their predicament. 



I thought the used of the lightbulb and the door later in the book was really a nice way to disable at least one enemy, although I do recall reading that they used a similar procedure in an earlier Casefiles so it was sort of strange to have Joe asking Frank what he planned to do with the lightbulb.  I also noticed that on the second last page (pg 149) the author accidentally said that Frank was talking to his sons when it should've been Fenton was talking to his sons. 



Anyway, I'm not going to go into much more detail, since if you want to know more then you are going to have to pick up the book and read it yourself.



Rating: A-

[tomswift2002]

I also found it really interesting that this was probably one of only a few Hardy Boys books where the boys run into a computer-age crime --- information theft via computer.  As was mentioned in the book, information theft is no longer very easy to trace, since its not like in the old days where financial instituitions or even the government kept your information on actual paper, so if someone stole it from the bank or the government it would be noticed pretty quickly.  Nowadays if someone gains access to your financial instituitions computer frame or the government's computer frame then they can copy what files they want and people wouldn't know about for possible months.

But when you think of when The Number File was printed, information theft by computer was a pretty "new" crime and the Hardy's had to deal with it in this volume.

[SDLagent]

I saw your reveiw over at HDA already - I like it.

[tomswift2002]

Well, I sort of posted the review at all three Hardy Boys discussion groups I'm with - HBC, HBA and HBYG.

[NZone]

yeah I remember reading about the Hardy Boys talking about identity theft and having to describe it because it was so new no one knew what it was

[tomswift2002]

Yeah, but they didn't have to go right into the subject of identity theft by, you know, someone breaking into a safe or into your house, but by breaking into bank and government computers.  And in the book I found the author was trying to make sure people understood that this sort of identity theft was similar to the old style, but was very new with the new influx of computers into the financial market in 1988.

[Bigfootman]

About the lightbulb trick, Joe did lose his memory in book 11 so alotough most of his memorys came back, some of them may have not.

[tomswift2002]

About the lightbulb trick, Joe did lose his memory in book 11 so alotough most of his memorys came back, some of them may have not.

Yeah, he did, but it was in one of the books after Brother Against Brother, possible Perfect Getaway.

[Olivia]

The writing was also very consistent in keeping the action going, since the author would create a conflict and then return to building more conflict in the next chapter rather than just creating one conflict in one chapter and then immediately resolving it or having the Hardys through around useless speculation.  Instead he would have Frank and Joe each make a theory as to what happened and then build more conflict and tension into the story, or he would have both realize that they had to work together to escape their predicament. 

Well-put. I noticed that.

It's good to finally be able to read more comments (as I try to stay spoiler-free).

[hardygirl847]

This is one of my favorites!!! There seemed to be several books in a row that were all really good. I assume it's due to the author being consistent but who knows...

[MacGyver]

The Number File is a great entry in the Casefiles- I definitely enjoyed reading this one. I just ran across this article about mystery themed board games from the ghostwriter for this book- Bruce Whitehill.

[tomswift2002]

30 years ago in July 1988, Nancy Drew was in New York City solving a murder, while the Hardy's were jetting to the Caribbean to solve a counterfeit credit card ring, after having been tackling the second part of the Bayport Corruption Storyline. 

I'm still re-reading the book, but by comparison, this book definitely would not fit into the Hardy Boys Adventures or Undercover Brothers series if it were released today.  Sure the boys depend on technology in this book, however, the plot is more complex and the action is a lot more than what you would find in today's series.