April 2013 Book Club: Casefiles #39 Flesh And Blood

[tomswift2002]

Post your reviews about Flesh And Blood here.

[MacGyver]

Flesh and Blood is one of my favorites in The Hardy Boys Casefiles. Callie Shaw plays a pretty big supporting role in this one and we also have Liz Webling showing up (who, years later, would go on to also appear in The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories- kinda neat to have a Casefiles-original character become a crossover character back to the original series.)
      And the thing I probably found most intriguing was both the threat on Fenton Hardy's life (though with The Hardys, threats on someone's life certainly aren't new- lol )- but this whole bit about the person who is intent on killing Mr. Hardy may just turn out to be one of the Hardys' oldest and most trusted friends- wow, that was pretty shocking reading it for the first time.
       I also recall that the book starts with The Hardy Boys helping in clean up efforts after a hurricane- always nice to see Frank and Joe involved in such humanitarian causes. If I remember correctly, this book was released somewhere in 1989 or 1990, I think- and I feel this was probably a response to Hurricane Hugo that hit America pretty badly (and other places too, I'm sure) in the fall of 1989 (I remember this happening when I was a kid.)
          And it is always great to have exciting cover art that reflects a suspenseful moment in the book- Frank and Joe trying to free Callie and escape from a room before a bomb kills them all. This is definitely one of the most explosive (pun intended ) covers of all.
      And it has an equally explosive story to go with it, as always tinged with just enough humor to keep things at a good steady pace. Overall, it's a great book and one of my favorites.

[tomswift2002]

Well, one thing you can say about Flesh And Blood is that there is no way you'd see any similar covers on the more recent Hardy Boys books!  But it is probably one of the best all-time covers!

[MacGyver]

Agreed.

[tomswift2002]

I was just reading Chapter 1 last night and I had to laugh when Frank told Chet to use the CB instead of the cellular phone, because the cell tower had been destroyed.  Even in1990 the boys had a cell phone, but they had to rely on old tech to get a message out.

[MacGyver]

Well, it does happen sometimes- that's why it is good to be familiar with different types of communication. As recently as this last year, when Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy hit, people in NY couldn't use their cell phones and many had to stand in line to use a pay phone to communicate with loved ones. There are times when it is good to have other and even older technology available. Of course, this is one reason why it's good to have a landline telephone at home as well, as they can still work even when the power is out.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

I was just reading Chapter 1 last night and I had to laugh when Frank told Chet to use the CB instead of the cellular phone, because the cell tower had been destroyed.  Even in1990 the boys had a cell phone, but they had to rely on old tech to get a message out.

I liked the book, but what was a CB radio?

Well, it does happen sometimes- that's why it is good to be familiar with different types of communication. As recently as this last year, when Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy hit, people in NY couldn't use their cell phones and many had to stand in line to use a pay phone to communicate with loved ones. There are times when it is good to have other and even older technology available. Of course, this is one reason why it's good to have a landline telephone at home as well, as they can still work even when the power is out.

Never had to used a payphone. If it wasn't for that article I would have never have known what it was. I freak out if my internet goes even for a second.

[AlwaysAJoefan]

I liked the book, but what was a CB radio?

A Citizen's Band Radio, which is basically a short-distance communication device. Looks like this.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

A Citizen's Band Radio, which is basically a short-distance communication device. Looks like this.

They had that in their car, yikes!

[MacGyver]

What's "yikes" about that? A CB radio was cutting edge technology at one time, after all.
But if you're not used to it, I guess I can understand how that looks like a lot to deal with when it seems much easier to have a smart cellphone handy instead today.
But even today, there are still CB radio enthusiasts who enjoy using it. There are a number of people who enjoy using what's now considered retro technology just for fun.
     

Never had to used a payphone. If it wasn't for that article I would have never have known what it was. I freak out if my internet goes even for a second. 

You've never used a payphone? Wow. Well, there aren't as many around nowadays but there are still some here and there- usually at gas stations and perhaps laundromats, etc. But you've never heard of a payphone before seeing that article? ........
     Well, being familiar with some older technology should make us all all the more thankful for newer technology that is generally more efficient and perhaps easier to use as well. (Though some folks would argue they'd prefer something simpler rather than the more complicated newer technology items.)
       And for the record, I have used a payphone at various times- but particularly most recently about a year or so ago, I was using a payphone for a while because my cell phone had broken and I had to wait until I had the money to replace it (and I had earlier disconnected my landline phone only because it was a cost-saving measure.)
         So yeah- there is still a use for them.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

What's "yikes" about that? A CB radio was cutting edge technology at one time, after all.
But if you're not used to it, I guess I can understand how that looks like a lot to deal with when it seems much easier to have a smart cellphone handy instead today.
But even today, there are still CB radio enthusiasts who enjoy using it. There are a number of people who enjoy using what's now considered retro technology just for fun.
             You've never used a payphone? Wow. Well, there aren't as many around nowadays but there are still some here and there- usually at gas stations and perhaps laundromats, etc. But you've never heard of a payphone before seeing that article? ........
     Well, being familiar with some older technology should make us all all the more thankful for newer technology that is generally more efficient and perhaps easier to use as well. (Though some folks would argue they'd prefer something simpler rather than the more complicated newer technology items.)
       And for the record, I have used a payphone at various times- but particularly most recently about a year or so ago, I was using a payphone for a while because my cell phone had broken and I had to wait until I had the money to replace it (and I had earlier disconnected my landline phone only because it was a cost-saving measure.)
         So yeah- there is still a use for them.

Never heard of it. Don't see them where I live.

[tomswift2002]

The Hardy's used CB radio's quite a bit in the original series continuity (not to mention, if you watch the first episode of the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries you can see the boys, Fenton Hardy and Aunt Gertrude using a CB), plus the story "The Short-Wave Mystery" is all about stolen CB radio parts.  Airplanes and boats still use the CB today because of fears over cell phones fouling up instrumentation, and when you are in the middle of the ocean, there is no cellphone reception.

But with older technology, yeah,  lot of people still have it or have pieces of it.  With my business, I'm still surprised at how many people want BETAMAX transferred to DVD.

[MacGyver]

Never heard of it. Don't see them where I live. 

Here is a picture of a typical payphone booth.

[MacGyver]

But with older technology, yeah,  lot of people still have it or have pieces of it.  With my business, I'm still surprised at how many people want BETAMAX transferred to DVD.

Some people are enthusiasts and some are just older and still have some of the technology they used to record family memories at the time when that medium was popular- probably in the late '70s and early '80s. But yeah- a lot of the old technology has come back and is now like, retro cool. For instance, despite rumors to the contrary, VHS isn't dead.

http://twitchfilm.com/2011/07/things...ture-corp.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/mo...tape.html?_r=0
http://www.vhscollector.com/
http://www.lunchmeatvhs.com/

And of course, vinyl records- LPs, 45s, 33 1/3s, etc. have definitely made a comeback too- in fact, tomorrow is National Record Store Day (nationalrecordstoreday.com)

[tomswift2002]

Here is a picture of a typical payphone booth.

Clark Kent sure can't change in that booth!