January 2011 Book Club Discussion - The Borderline Case (#25 Casefile)

[Olivia]

Let's discuss The Borderline Case (#25)!

Some of my observations and review/recap:

Frank let Prynne go back to his cabin on the ship unprotected. Maybe Frank thought they wouldn't try an attack a second time? I'm not sure if I missed something or if it wasn't specified.

To talk about the setting, they depended on other people a lot since they were in Greece. Chet and Phil definitely pulled their weight (like they always do), but they had to work with a lot of people because of the language barrier and not knowing the location.

One thing I was thinking about was whether anything really changed from the beginning to the end. I believe the whole culture barrier did. Clea was rude to Joe and people disliked Americans, but then they learned about each other's countries.

A funny highlight was when Chet has a Greek girl getting a little crush on him and gives him a sampling of dolma.

?Chet. I like that name. Chet. It's a strong name, fit for a big man...One day I will marry a man with a great love of food.?
Chet squirmed, not sure how to reply to the girl.

Your thoughts? And what is your rating on this book overall.

(ETA: Corrected some of the formatting.)

[hardygirl847]

Yay! I am excited to discuss. I am on the way out though so I will come back later.

[AlwaysAJoefan]

I have to think a little more to be able to accurately say what I think. One funny highlight was when Joe actually refused food! 

[MacGyver]

?Chet. I like that name. Chet. It's a strong name, fit for a big man...One day I will marry a man with a great love of food.?
Chet squirmed, not sure how to reply to the girl.

Haha- I remember that line. Funny.
And I did appreciate that this book had Chet and Phil showing up alongside Frank and Joe, due to all of them being on a class trip to Greece. And in the midst of it all, the Network got involved too. It's definitely a pretty cool action-filled book from what I recall. I will have to pull out my copy of this book and peruse through it some before I can comment much further. (sorry- I've been behind on reading- just had a lot of things going on lately.)

[tomswift2002]

It's been about 9 or 10 years since I last read The Borderline Case, so once I get finished with my current books (Sieze The Fire by Michael A. Martin).

[tomswift2002]

I just started the book last night, and I noticed that just after the boys board the boat, the author mention's that Joe gets seasick.  Now then I've never heard of Joe getting seasick before in either the Original or Casefile continuities (and I don't think the boys have been on any boats that have been moving in the Undercover Brothers continuity), so this is a little unusual for Joe.  I guess on the Sleuth and the other boats, Joe usually has his Gravol with him, which I guess he left at home this trip.

[hardygirl847]

Lots to respond to...so here it goes..

1. I thought it was a nice change that Chet was getting the attention from a girl but Joe was getting the cold shoulder.

2. Frank lets Prynne go because he doesn't want his head to get bitten off plus it looked like the guys were down for the count. Knowing later that the Gray Man helped Frank (Poor Frank btw), we can  also assume that he may have helped keep them at bay. Although, they do come back later...so maybe not. :/

3. I'm glad Clea and Joe were able to break down the cultural barriers.

4. Did anyone else notice the reference to the 1996 Olympics? I smiled realizing how old this book was but loved it anyways.

5. I agree that being sick didn't seem to be something Joe had problems with in the past. A lot of the group had those problems so maybe it had to do with something he ate too? It also made Frank more vulnerable to be without Joe and get attacked. True, Chet was there but it's not the same as Joe. Chet DID kick some butt though!

6. Phil and Chet aren't always so vital IMO. Therefore this story gave them a whole new opportunity to be awesome. Phil was a badass at that tower defending it with Prynne. I was rooting for him because it's a different side than we usually see. Phil is usually the "geek" that knows how to do anything with electronics.

7. Guns, guns, and MORE guns! I know that the Casefiles have more violence and weapons but wow...did anyone else think there were a lot of guns in this one??? I guess I haven't read a Casefile (GASP) in awhile and didn't realize how the different series handle this issue. Casefiles are still my fave though.

8. I laughed out loud when Chet asked if Frank had any snacks. pg 143 "'Maybe we could just rush out there and grab the stovepipe,' Chet suggested. Frank shook his head. 'Try it and the crew will start sniping at you.' 'Yeah, I guess. Boy, I feel like I haven't eaten in a week. You have any snacks, Frank?'"

Gotta love Chet. Thinking about food in a life or death situation. Totally random and funny.

9. I felt like the ending was a little abrupt but they wrapped it up as best as they could.

10. Frank and Joe were separated for a good portion of the book. Frank is wandering the deck and gets attacked while Joe sleeps off his seasickness in the bunk. Then they go on separate missions causing the chapters to alternate between the brothers. This reminded me a little of the UBs since they do that but it wasn't in first person. They luckily came together towards the end. Of course, Frank showed some concern for his little brother. 

11. The tile game was interesting and somewhat dramatic. Putting it all on Frank was dramatic too. Of course they didn't even get to try to use this against him really before all heck broke loose. lol

Overall, I really liked this book. I think it was really fast paced (as a lot of Casefiles are) and fun to read. I wish I knew more about Greece and where they were in order to picture it better...but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book.

[tomswift2002]

4. Did anyone else notice the reference to the 1996 Olympics? I smiled realizing how old this book was but loved it anyways.

Yeah, I noticed that as well (funny thing is, the Hardy's would be working at the 1996 Olympics in Casefiles #111 Competitive Edge, while they would be helping to build the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics in the SuperMystery At All Costs), not to mention all the references to the Eastern and Western Bloc which fell in 1989 with the Berlin Wall.

The dating in the book is as bad as the dating in the 1929 version of The Mystery of Cabin Island.

[MacGyver]

The dating in the book is as bad as the dating in the 1929 version of The Mystery of Cabin Island.

Yep- Frank and Joe weren't taking any girls out in that one either- no time for that kind of stuff when you've got the world to save.

[tomswift2002]

The last time that I read The Borderline Case back at the turn of the Millenium, I hadn't yet seen any episodes of the 1977 Hardy Boys TV series, but re-reading the book now, I'm finding that a lot of the mannerisms, actions and maturity of the boys seem to be based on the portrayals of the Hardy's by Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy, so I'm wondering if the author remembered seeing the show when they were writing the book in 1988/89, or if they had maybe been rewatching the Universal/Goodtime VHS tapes, and just when they were writing the books, just like Star Trek writers tend to write the Star Trek books, even all these years after Star Trek: TOS have been off the air and Deforrest Kelley has passed away, by having the characters act and sound as if the actor were still portraying the character, if the author of The Borderline Case (either by doing it on purpose or not) really felt Parker and Shaun were "Frank and Joe Hardy".  Unfortunately Phil Cohen never appeared in the series, and Chet Morton, while appearing in one episode, they both feel like the old characters, but the "Frank and Joe Hardy" in this book I'm finding are Parker and Shaun's "Frank and Joe Hardy", albeit in the Casefile world, but still it doesn't matter, because the character styles fit so perfectly. 

[MacGyver]

Cool parallels.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

I liked this one a lot. Who else thought that there were a lot of guns being used in this one?

[Olivia]

2. Frank lets Prynne go because he doesn't want his head to get bitten off plus it looked like the guys were down for the count. Knowing later that the Gray Man helped Frank (Poor Frank btw), we can  also assume that he may have helped keep them at bay. Although, they do come back later...so maybe not. :/

5. I agree that being sick didn't seem to be something Joe had problems with in the past. A lot of the group had those problems so maybe it had to do with something he ate too? It also made Frank more vulnerable to be without Joe and get attacked. True, Chet was there but it's not the same as Joe. Chet DID kick some butt though!

6. Phil and Chet aren't always so vital IMO. Therefore this story gave them a whole new opportunity to be awesome. Phil was a badass at that tower defending it with Prynne. I was rooting for him because it's a different side than we usually see. Phil is usually the "geek" that knows how to do anything with electronics.

7. Guns, guns, and MORE guns! I know that the Casefiles have more violence and weapons but wow...did anyone else think there were a lot of guns in this one??? I guess I haven't read a Casefile (GASP) in awhile and didn't realize how the different series handle this issue. Casefiles are still my fave though.

9. I felt like the ending was a little abrupt but they wrapped it up as best as they could.

Overall, I really liked this book. I think it was really fast paced (as a lot of Casefiles are) and fun to read. I wish I knew more about Greece and where they were in order to picture it better...but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book.

2. That helps explain it for me.

5. I think that's what it was -- the food. Especially based on his reaction when trying to eat.

6. For sure -- especially with the tower, like you said.

9. Yeah, for a lot (if not most) HBs books, once the action's over, there's just a couple pages left it seems.

I rate this book pretty high (from the 15-20 Casefiles I've read). It had so many layers that built on each other and didn't waste any encounter.

I liked this one a lot. Who else thought that there were a lot of guns being used in this one?

Yup, there was.

[hardygirl847]

Yeah, I noticed that as well (funny thing is, the Hardy's would be working at the 1996 Olympics in Casefiles #111 Competitive Edge, while they would be helping to build the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics in the SuperMystery At All Costs), not to mention all the references to the Eastern and Western Bloc which fell in 1989 with the Berlin Wall.

The dating in the book is as bad as the dating in the 1929 version of The Mystery of Cabin Island.

Dating a classic book is not the worst or the best thing either. It does give the reader a better sense of the time period but classics shouldn't matter what time period it is in. It will still have some relevance. However, it does remind the reader of how old the book is too...

The way things are written or what types of situations, lingo, etc are used definitely defines the most about the book. If you blindly picked up a HB not knowing what series it was from or the title...MOST of us MOST of the time would be able to pick out the series just based on the first few pages.

I'm not really sure where I was going with that...so I will continue. lol

The last time that I read The Borderline Case back at the turn of the Millenium, I hadn't yet seen any episodes of the 1977 Hardy Boys TV series, but re-reading the book now, I'm finding that a lot of the mannerisms, actions and maturity of the boys seem to be based on the portrayals of the Hardy's by Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy, so I'm wondering if the author remembered seeing the show when they were writing the book in 1988/89, or if they had maybe been rewatching the Universal/Goodtime VHS tapes, and just when they were writing the books, just like Star Trek writers tend to write the Star Trek books, even all these years after Star Trek: TOS have been off the air and Deforrest Kelley has passed away, by having the characters act and sound as if the actor were still portraying the character, if the author of The Borderline Case (either by doing it on purpose or not) really felt Parker and Shaun were "Frank and Joe Hardy".  Unfortunately Phil Cohen never appeared in the series, and Chet Morton, while appearing in one episode, they both feel like the old characters, but the "Frank and Joe Hardy" in this book I'm finding are Parker and Shaun's "Frank and Joe Hardy", albeit in the Casefile world, but still it doesn't matter, because the character styles fit so perfectly. 

The first time I read any Casefiles I had no idea there was a show or even that they started in the 1920s. I know...how sad of me. But I was only a preteen reading for the summer. Now that I reread it with all the prior knowledge of the bluespines, the tv shows, etc....I'm still not sure if I totally see Frank and Joe of the 70s being the Frank and Joe in the book. I can kinda see a little of where you are thinking but not  totally.

That's just my opinion though. Plus, are you referring to the Season 1 and 2 Frank and Joe or the Season 3 Frank and Joe? Because there are some definite differences there.

I rate this book pretty high (from the 15-20 Casefiles I've read). It had so many layers that built on each other and didn't waste any encounter.

I own all of the Casefiles and have read most of them at least once. I'm currently trying to reread them all again...in order. That doesn't always happen though. lol But this is still a good one. I liked it even more this time around actually. Good choice Olivia!!

[Olivia]

I own all of the Casefiles and have read most of them at least once. I'm currently trying to reread them all again...in order. That doesn't always happen though. lol But this is still a good one. I liked it even more this time around actually. Good choice Olivia!!

Thanks. After I haven't read one in a while, I'm always reminded how good they are. I feel like each is practically movie-quality (the best example I can come up with to describe it).