Halloween Review Part 1: Trick-Or-Trouble

[tomswift2002]

The Hardy Boys #175 Trick-Or-Trouble
Published: September 2002
Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks

Plot

It?s a week before Halloween and the Hardys are excited about the Halloween Spooktacular that the Bayport Chamber of Commerce is putting on.  Some of the top prizes are a limited edition motorcycle, a remodeled RV, and a classic Volkswagen Beetle.  Of course there are other prizes being handed out, such as free cups of coffee and CD?s. 

But things get off to a frightening start when someone knocks out the electricity at the kickoff bash and unleashes a cageful of bats.  Then someone in a devil mask robs another contestant of their clues. 

Is someone so desperate to win the contest that they?ll do everything legally and illegally possible to win?  Or is there another factor that the Hardy boys don?t even realize?  And how does the veteran Hollywood horror actor, hired to be emcee of the contest, fit into all of it?

Review

While I don?t consider this to be one of the top Hardy Boys books of all time, I do consider it to be one of the top Hardy Boys books of the 2000?s.  Since its release in 2002, I?ve reread the book every year during the month of October, sort of as a Halloween tradition. 

And while it doesn?t move as fast as ?Dead Of Night?, or ?The Skyfire Puzzle?, the book really gets you wrapped up in the contest and the mystery.  Of course I didn?t like how the story ended up having two different criminals, with a third one sort of popping out of nowhere, but still the references to all the old black and white movies and TV series really added to the depth of the book. 

I also found that the author tried to make the veteran Hollywood horror actor who was the emcee of the contest, sort of a mixture of Boris Karloff and other 1930-1950 horror movie stars.  Plus I found that the author really loved making the actor seem to be a real vampire, from having Callie having heard about his ?supposed? death to the actor eating cherry pies and causing his dentures to be stained bright red, almost as though he had been drinking blood. 

If you want a good book to read for Halloween, then I suggest that you pick this book up, along with ?Dead Of Night? from the Casefiles.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

[Olivia]

I thought I was really not going to like it, but it surprised me. It particularly had a good pace.

[003Robin457]

This is the one with the doll head on the cover right?

[Olivia]

Yeah.