#29 Thick As Thieves (31st Anniversary Review)

[tomswift2002]

Thick As Thieves
Published: July 1989
Author: Steven Grant
Other Hardy Boys Books by Author (as of January 2020): Casefiles #3 Cult of Crime, #6 The Crowning Terror, #14 Too Many Traitors, #19 Nightmare In Angel City, #62 Final Gambit

Plot: During a daring robbery of rare gems, Frank and Joe spot the thief. Their old enemy Charity has turned up in Bayport -- and once again she manages to slip through their fingers. The Hardys track her to San Diego, where they run smack into a crook's convention.
A group of master criminals are planning the crime of the century -- and they think Joe is one of the dishonored guests. Joe joins the gang, but then he disappears in a bomb blast. Frank is left to avenge his brother's death against all odds -- as he tackles a killer tag team with a secret weapon...and a lethal lady named Charity.

Review: So I'm only up to Chapter 4 on this re-read, but this is a really great book.  Obviously, it's a sequel to #6 The Crowning Terror which featured US Espionage Resources and Charity.  However this time it is only Charity.  Also there's a reference to #13 The Borgia Dagger, which kind of threw me for a while, since I thought that it meant that the 2 books were written by the same author, but no, The Borgia Dagger was written by Peter Lerangis, so it looks like Steve Grant may've read the book and inserted the reference. 

In terms of series continuity, The Crowning Terror occurs about 4 years before Thick As Thieves (yes I know that in the book, Frank and Joe are described as being 17 & 18, however, since #5 Edge of Destruction occurs 18 months before #21 Street Spies, and there is a 6 month gap between #12 Perfect Getaway & #13 The Borgia Dagger, and there is another, almost 9 month gap between #23 Disaster for Hire & #24 Scene of the Crime, during which time Frank and Joe help Nancy on both A Crime for Christmas & Shock Waves).

[tomswift2002]

So I'm up to Chapter 12, and I had totally forgot that Joe gets blown up in this book!  I remembered that Frank got shot, but Joe getting blown up, I had totally forgot about that.  So that really makes Thick as Thieves interesting in that from about Chapter 8 you have both Frank and Joe operating separately of each other with neither knowing that the other is alive (Frank is shot around Chapter 4, so Joe thinks Frank is dead for most of the book). 

This plot of Frank and Joe thinking that each other is dead is definitely a plot that wouldn't make it into a current Adventures story. 

[tomswift2002]

So I just finished the book.  I really forgot about the sub-plot in the book about framing Chief Collig for the theft of the Star of Ishtar and how the insurance guy, Renner, was working with Charity to steal it.  But with Collig, he's only in the first 3 chapters and then that's it for him and Con Riley. 

But it was also interesting how Frank and Joe had to join up with the Mexican Fedrales in order to solve the case, and you didn't know if Chaco was a good guy or a bad guy pretending to get on the Hardy's good side and then turn on them. 

Anyway, with Charity, it leaves her story arc open, and she was never mentioned again, even though Joe hoped that they would never tangle with her again, but the last sentence said that both Frank and Joe knew that he was wrong.

Rating: 10/10

[MacGyver]

Thick as Thieves has long been a favourite for me, due to The Hardy Boys tangling with Charity again and the dynamic of Frank and Joe thinking the other is dead and working to avenge him.