Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Super Mystery #6

MacGyver · November 09, 2011, 11:29:57 AM

Well, even if the narrator is correctly identified each time, it still can be a little confusing or at least a little unsettling to have to switch between two narrators to begin with. But if you like the style, that's cool. It is something different, so I give them points for experimenting. But it's not my favorite style of writing in general...

Bigfootman · December 06, 2011, 09:51:08 AM

The book has been given a title. The title is "Stage Fright", that's also the title of a Nancy Drew Files book
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Stage-Fright/Franklin-W-Dixon/Nancy-Drew-Hardy-Boys/9781442456815

MacGyver · December 06, 2011, 04:48:06 PM

Okay- thanks for the update, Dan. Maybe this title will come through- but I still think it's probably the last gasp for the series. I don't think I would see this series continuing with both the Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers series gone. Unless they are planning to revamp this '07 Supermysteries series as well...

tomswift2002 · December 06, 2011, 05:56:57 PM

I just hope that this isn't another reality-show based mystery, or else we could say that the series died from reality.

SDLagent · December 06, 2011, 06:33:35 PM

Quote from: Santa Claus on December 06, 2011, 05:56:57 PM
I just hope that this isn't another reality-show based mystery, or else we could say that the series died from reality.

Pretty much.

MacGyver · December 06, 2011, 07:17:29 PM

Video Killed the Printing Star? - that would Bug(gles) me a lot.

Bigfootman · December 07, 2011, 07:31:52 AM

"Can Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys stop the curtain from crashing down on a new Broadway spectacular?The producers of a huge new Broadway musical are worried about their star, a TV actress who has been receiving death threats. When the actress gets sick right before opening night, her understudy has to go on for her?and nearly dies in an ?accident? on stage. So the producers call in the Hardy Boys to get to the source of the trouble.
Baffled by all the backstage backstabbing, the Hardys call Nancy and ask her to come to New York and help them out. When she arrives, they realize that Nancy is a dead ringer for the lead actress, so they arrange for her to replace the injured understudy.
Can the three supersleuths put an end to the accidents plaguing the show? Or is the curtain about to come down once and for all?"

MacGyver · December 07, 2011, 08:29:58 AM

At least it's not another reality show.... Broadway is at least something different.
This kind of seems like something the Hardy Boys could handle on their own though...but The Hardys and Nancy Drew have a history of inviting each other to mysteries at times (in the previous '88 Supermysteries series) so that's still in keeping with past tradition.

SDLagent · December 07, 2011, 03:09:06 PM

Quote from: Dinosaur Dan on December 07, 2011, 07:31:52 AM
"Can Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys stop the curtain from crashing down on a new Broadway spectacular?The producers of a huge new Broadway musical are worried about their star, a TV actress who has been receiving death threats. When the actress gets sick right before opening night, her understudy has to go on for her?and nearly dies in an ?accident? on stage. So the producers call in the Hardy Boys to get to the source of the trouble.
Baffled by all the backstage backstabbing, the Hardys call Nancy and ask her to come to New York and help them out. When she arrives, they realize that Nancy is a dead ringer for the lead actress, so they arrange for her to replace the injured understudy.
Can the three supersleuths put an end to the accidents plaguing the show? Or is the curtain about to come down once and for all?"

Is this for real? Or did you just make it up as a joke?

MacGyver · December 07, 2011, 03:18:35 PM

It's for real- Simon & Schuster updated their site with that description...

SDLagent · December 07, 2011, 03:24:02 PM

huh. Should have known. I just thought it was a joke because it's so predictable.

tomswift2002 · December 08, 2011, 07:35:10 AM

With that one line about the producers calling in the Hardy's, I wonder if that means that this will be the only book in the UB continuity that was written and printed by Simon & Schuster to have the Hardy's actually receive a case on their own, and not given to them by ATAC.

MacGyver · December 08, 2011, 11:03:15 AM

That would be nice...but I imagine the producers would still have to go through ATAC - they're like the Hardy Boys' booking agents.

SDLagent · December 08, 2011, 05:02:46 PM

Quote from: MacGyver on December 08, 2011, 11:03:15 AM
That would be nice...but I imagine the producers would still have to go through ATAC - they're like the Hardy Boys' booking agents.

haha. That's one why to look at it.

This wouldn't be the only book in the UB continuity where the boys got a non-ATAC case. It happened at least twice in the graphic novel series.

MacGyver · December 08, 2011, 07:19:54 PM

QuoteIt happened at least twice in the graphic novel series.

That was a nice respite for the continuity then. I think if the Casefiles had been that way with every single case coming from The Network, it would have gotten to be frustrating. It's one thing if you're writing a James Bond or Mission: Impossible series- that's expected in every case. It would be the rarity (and perhaps fresh change of pace) where Bond or the IMF didn't have a mission assigned to them.
But with The Hardy Boys, they've always been falling into their own cases (which usually invariably somehow tie in with their father's case by sheer coincidence

)- but by the time of the Casefiles as well as some of the Original Continuity and most, if not all the Digests), Frank and Joe were well established on their own as detectives and generally got called on by individuals asking for their services or they fell into a case on their own or just decided to go after a case that had been baffling the police or something.
With the Casefiles, it was an every now and then thing where The Network would assign The Hardys a case (or sometimes the Hardys horned in on the case anyway)- and in those cases, it made the book a little more exciting and interesting (partly because I knew they don't always have the Network on the scene [and/or The Assassins]) and so the stakes were raised a little too. But it wasn't overwhelming because it wasn't all the time. I think the Undercover Brothers continuity might have been done a bit better if they kept more of a balance like the Casefiles did. (Of course, I think there are a number of others things that could help improve the UB continuity- mainly things like keeping The Hardy Boys in character regarding their character, morals and language and improving the writing, pacing and plotting and perhaps maintaining the 3rd. person perspective [though admittedly that's mainly just a preference on my part.]) Anyway, that's a whole different conversation. I hope the new Hardy Boys series will do better with maintaining that kind of balance (if secret agencies like The Network and ATAC or even standard ones like The FBI and the police are involved in the distribution of cases at all.)