April 2011 Book Club Discussion: Breakdown in Axeblade

[tomswift2002]

Post all your reviews and comments about Breakdown in Axeblade, book #94 in the Hardy Boys series, here.

[MacGyver]

I've only just gotten started rereading Breakdown in Axeblade now, but I will offer a few general comments. This is one of my favorites of The Hardy Boys Digests- I think partly because it takes place in Wyoming and I love the "Wild West" part of the USA. And I know it's been done in other books, but I love the whole breakdown in a small town plot and Frank and Joe camping in national parks. I guess all of that is appealing to me, as I enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful woods and trees and mountains that God has made. (And I love the beach too, for the record.)
     It was also interesting to me how The Hardy Boys meet opposition off the bat and are being run out of town when they can't do anything about it with their van down for the count. It kind of sounds like the start of a Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? episode, but that's cool with me- I love Scooby-Doo too.

[tomswift2002]

     It was also interesting to me how The Hardy Boys meet opposition off the bat and are being run out of town when they can't do anything about it with their van down for the count. It kind of sounds like the start of a Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? episode, but that's cool with me- I love Scooby-Doo too.

Breakdown In Axeblade is a really great book, but that part about being driven out of town right away always seemed rather ridiculous.  I mean, if you were doing something illegal that you didn't want any outsider's to know about, would the best thing to do to them be to threaten them and then knock them out and drag them to the middle of nowhere with no vehicle?  The Hardy's did go to register at the motel in Axeblade, and then for some strange reason one of the bad guys caught the inn keeper's eye, and told him NO!  Really, considering that the trucks were just passing through town, I don't think anyone checking into a motel pay any attention to transport trucks driving through on their way to who knows where.

[MacGyver]

It's one of those things that got me upset because Frank and Joe were being picked on for no real reason- but of course, that made me interested to read the book further to see their eventual vindication that I knew must be coming.

[tomswift2002]

I re-read the book today, and one thing odd that I noticed, about the whole "Get out of Town" thing was that the boys seemed to enter Axeblade from one end of the town, while the trucks were entering from the other end and weren't even going right into the town.  There was never any mention of the trucks going right through the town inorder to get to Barntree's property.  So it sort of makes it ridiculous as to why the townspeople were picking on the Hardy's who came in the opposite side of town and would've never known about the trucks had the people of Axeblade not started their attacks, unless the Hardy's saw the trucks on their way out of town. 

But still the book was a good book.

Rating: 9.5/10

[MacGyver]

I just finished rereading Breakdown in Axeblade last night. Great read- it's one of my favorites of The Hardy Boys Digest series- I think I just like the camping trip and small town stories.
     Anyway, regarding all the attacks on The Hardys in the book- I think Barntree mentions that he's been doing this operation for 30 years somewhere in the book. So we know things have been like this for a long time and the whole town has come to accept that and just learned not to cross this guy - except for some holdouts like Becky and Kwo. They needed someone like Frank and Joe Hardy to come through and shake things up- and set things right. Anyway- I think the attacks were part of the paranoia that comes with doing something wrong and hoping to not get caught.
          I liked the bluff Frank pulled on Barntree at the end as well as Joe's plan to catch the tankers in the act. This was a great book for promoting environmental awareness as well- Captain Planet would be proud!
It's also ironically timely as well- as this book was published in February 1989 and just a little over a month later- one of the biggest and worst oil spills in American history happened when the tanker Exxon Valdez spilled some 1.2 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Alaska on March 24, 1989. (http://www.cnn.com/resources/video.almanac/1989/index.html)

[tomswift2002]

On the environmental angle, I prefer Breakdown In Axeblade over other Hardy Boys books such as Toxic Revenge or Running On Fumes.  I guess with BIA the author got the message across without throwing it right at you like other author's have done.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

On the environmental angel, I prefer Breakdown In Axeblade over other Hardy Boys books such as Toxic Revenge or Running On Fumes.  I guess with BIA the author got the message across without throwing it right at you like other author's have done.

I liked Running On Fumes!

[tomswift2002]

I liked Running On Fumes!

I remember when I read Running On Fumes back in April 2005 I found that the book wasn't as good as Extreme Danger or Boardwalk Bust.  But one of the things that I found that I didn't enjoy about the book was just how much environmental stuff the author put into the book that I found really didn't help the mystery and it just felt like the author was one of those environmental people who'll come to your door to tell this stuff, but then even when you ask them to leave they don't.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

I remember when I read Running On Fumes back in April 2005 I found that the book wasn't as good as Extreme Danger or Boardwalk Bust.  But one of the things that I found that I didn't enjoy about the book was just how much environmental stuff the author put into the book that I found really didn't help the mystery and it just felt like the author was one of those environmental people who'll come to your door to tell this stuff, but then even when you ask them to leave they don't.

I felt that way about it too after a while.

[hardygirl847]

Some people find that they can write their own beliefs about the environment, politics, religion, etc into their story. Do they think people won't notice??? Or won't be turned off by how it is obviously being forced down their throats? 

[MacGyver]

So you think Frank and Joe doing the PSA for National Wildlife Federation on behalf of ATAC at the end of the book was too much?

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Some people find that they can write their own beliefs about the environment, politics, religion, etc into their story. Do they think people won't notice??? Or won't be turned off by how it is obviously being forced down their throats?

I was turned off after a while.

So you think Frank and Joe doing the PSA for National Wildlife Federation on behalf of ATAC at the end of the book was too much?

Yeah, I think so!

[hardygirl847]

Anytime someone rams that stuff down your throat it can be overkill. I'm all for being green and doing better for the planet, etc. I loved Captain Planet!

At the same time, I don't need to have it overdone either. I guess it has to be a balance...or at least approached in such a way that it promotes a desire to listen versus driving people away. I dunno.

Anyways, I FINALLY got to read this book and I really liked it!

Barntree's wife cracked me up! She was SO nonchalant about Barntree kidnapping Frank and Joe, putting them in the basement, and then saying he was going to kill them.

She even went to get dinner out the freezer and just looked at them like they were old stored furniture and not 2 teenage boys. HYSTERICAL. I seriously laughed out loud.

Joe's "trust me" was funny too. I love when some of the ghost writers add the humor that makes them seem even more realistic.

I think the townspeople reacted so poorly because they wanted to camp in the park. The problem wasn't that they came in the first place, it was that they wanted to camp right where all of the bad stuff was happening. Bill was being shady because his sister was married to Phoenix. So I think that was their first mistake. lol

Axeblade Pete cracked me up too. Some of the stuff he said was just so random it was funny!

Frank "kidnapping" Mrs. Barntree was funny too because he would NEVER in a million years use someone else like that. It said Joe had never heard him say anything like that honestly...but he would have known Frank was bluffing.

Poor Frank gets whacked in the head from a falling rock. But again, I like danger...so it was all good.  

Anyways, this was a good pick.  It was definitely an enjoyable read. Most Hardy Boys books are...but some more than others. This one is higher on my list.

[MacGyver]

Axeblade Pete cracked me up too. Some of the stuff he said was just so random it was funny!

Frank "kidnapping" Mrs. Barntree was funny too because he would NEVER in a million years use someone else like that. It said Joe had never heard him say anything like that honestly...but he would have known Frank was bluffing.

Those are some of my favorite funny moments in the book too. I guess now you see why tomswift2002 and I like Breakdown in Axeblade so much.