The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers: #40

MacGyver · August 19, 2011, 08:02:12 AM

Tune in next time for the thrilling answer! Same Hardy time, Same Hardy channel!

MacGyver · August 19, 2011, 08:49:19 AM

Okay- so the book is not listed on either the American or Canadian version of Simon & Schuster's web site...
But the Amazon.com listing is still up (which doesn't necessarily mean anything)
However, I've noticed that it does have a slightly more detailed book summary:

"Frank and Joe's latest case involves the dangerous underside of social networking. A football friend from a nearby school contacts the Hardys when a team member goes missing! One minute he was at a massive beach party that everyone from school was invited to via MyFace; the next moment he was GONE! The MyFace parties continue, but so do the crimes: robbery, kidnapping, car theft...can murder be far behind? Is MyFace a social network of friends or a network of something far more sinister?"

And this site lists the book as releasing September 11, 2012. That's quite a jump from March 2012.
I guess we'll just have to keep waiting for more details to emerge in time...but for now, it does look kinda suspicious

MacGyver · August 19, 2011, 08:53:48 AM

I meant to say May 22, 2012 is the original publishing date Simon & Schuster had listed on their page, but the Amazon listing has September 11, 2012. Since #39 is due out toward the start of the year (January 3, 2012)- that's quite a huge gap in between books.
And also for the record, the Amazon listing only has a price up for the Kindle electronic version and nothing for the paperback....
Also for the record, it's also still listed on Amazon.ca as well.
Curiouser and curioser....

tomswift2002 · August 19, 2011, 07:47:39 PM

I just checked Chapters.Indigo.ca and the book is listed there as The Case of the MyFace Kidnapper (w.t) with a list price of $6.99 CDN and a release date of September 11, 2012. And considering that the final book of the Movie Mayhem Trilogy is scheduled to be released on January 3, 2012, and Sports Sabotage is scheduled for April 3, that is a long time between releases. I wonder if S&S is trying to retool the brand some how, considering that both the regular series and graphic novels seem to be going on hiatus for a while?

MacGyver · August 19, 2011, 09:13:12 PM

Could be... maybe like what I saying earlier about "The Case of..." construct in the title- might be indicative of moving toward a single contained story again and away from the trilogies... who knows? That's just conjecture on my part right now.

SDLagent · August 20, 2011, 01:02:26 AM

One the Canadian S&S site it was originally listed as the first in a trilogy.

MacGyver · August 20, 2011, 07:03:51 AM

Okay- I guess that kills that theory then... Perhaps it's more just wishful thinking on my part- lol

tomswift2002 · August 21, 2011, 01:14:04 PM

Quote from: MacGyver on August 19, 2011, 09:13:12 PM
Could be... maybe like what I saying earlier about "The Case of..." construct in the title- might be indicative of moving toward a single contained story again and away from the trilogies... who knows? That's just conjecture on my part right now.

Maybe they'll get rid of the first person narrative and go back to the third person narrative.

SDLagent · August 21, 2011, 08:53:16 PM

Don't bet on it. That wont happen until the UB is replaced.

Olivia · September 14, 2011, 05:28:51 PM

Quote from: SDLagent on August 10, 2011, 12:01:11 AM
So you're saying most Ontarians say "mom"?

Yup.

(Over a month later, I'm back to answer. lol.)

SDLagent · September 14, 2011, 11:19:37 PM

Ah, well, Ontario's pretty much America, anyway.

MacGyver · September 15, 2011, 12:52:05 PM

Well, while I've still not seen #40 resurface on Simon & Schuster's Web site, I have noticed that some more Hardy Boys books are coming to eBook format- including early Undercover Brothers books and some from the Digests.
Hazed, No Way Out and Hidden Mountain are due to be released September 20, 2011.
Thrill Ride is set for release on October 18, 2011.
So that's neat to see more books coming to eBook format anyway- I have a feeling this will be a good way for S&S to reach younger fans with Hardy Boys books. Though I don't quite see the end of the physical book just yet or anything, I do think a lot of people seem to be getting into the whole eBook format (though I still don't quite get the appeal...)

SDLagent · September 15, 2011, 01:08:32 PM

Quote from: MacGyver on September 15, 2011, 12:52:05 PM(though I still don't quite get the appeal...)

Cheap and fast.

MacGyver · September 15, 2011, 06:41:46 PM

I suppose. I'd just rather have an actual book- I've tried reading books (i.e. public domain Sherlock Holmes stories) and fan fiction stories online- and I get tired of scrolling through screens for that. I'd rather have the pages in my hand- it's easier for me. I think I'm cool with reading things online (as I obviously do that well enough on Web sites such as this), but only to a point. But everyone has their personal preferences on this of course.

MacGyver · September 15, 2011, 06:46:23 PM

By the way- just purely out of speculation here- I was wondering some if this might really signal the end (or at least a rebranding/restructuring) of the Undercover Brothers series. With the graphic novel series also at least on hiatus- I kinda wonder if that would effectively end the expanding universe of The Hardy Boys as it is. But on the other hand, I suppose that any property seen as being profitable will continue to be milked by its owners for as much as money as possible... but even so, I hope that decisions are made for the good of the franchise. So maybe there would be yet another new Hardy Boys series (with some kind of different take) or maybe they would revive and continue an older series- or maybe they would actually just let things stand as they are and let it rest for a while- or maybe even altogether.
Just some thoughts there- balancing the good of the series versus profitability and all those concerns and ideas...