#30 The Deadliest Dare (31st Anniversary Review)

[tomswift2002]

The Deadliest Dare
Published: August 1989
Author: Ron Goulart
Other Hardy Boys by Author: Casefiles #23 Disaster for Hire, #44 Castle Fear

Plot:
Last laugh

When Bayport is hit by a rash of vicious pranks, Frank and Joe investigate. They aren't sure the tricks are meant to be funny, especially the mysterious phone tip that leads them to a spooky mansion that happens to be on fire.

After dousing the blaze, the brother detectives find a vital clue. The trail leads them to a bizarre club dedicated to danger. But the pranks may be only a cover for an ultra-serious game plan. Soon the young sleuths find themselves playing straight men for a deadly practical joke -- where the punch line is murder.

Review:  I'm up to Chapter 8.  It's been a while since I read the book, and while I will say the cover art is one of the Top 10 covers in the series, the story is kind of meh.  The plot is pretty weak for the Casefiles, since it is someone going around Bayport creating pranks.  Also, the Frank and Joe in this book seem to be more the Frank and Joe of the Mystery Stories than the Frank and Joe of the Casefiles.  Actually, so far, the book feels like it could've been written for the Mystery Stories but then it was changed into a Casefiles.

In terms of Casefiles Continuity, Frank and Joe are 20 and 21 (yes in the book they are referred to as 17 & 18, however, see my review of https://www.hardyboyscasefiles.com/forums/index.php?topic=2968.0).  They just recently returned from California and the Thick as Thieves case, but they'll be heading back to California after this for the SuperMystery'88 case, Dangerous Games. 

[MacGyver]

I definitely like the cover art for this one. I still recall the opening line- "Ah choo!" 
In regards to the age of The Hardy Boys, I don't think the books are meant to be read in real time. Frank and Joe are perpetual teenagers like the Archie Comics characters are generally presented.

[tomswift2002]

That kind of works for the Original Revised series and the other series, but as I'm reading the Casefiles-Files universe books, the authors were clearly going for the aging thing (just dropping the 17/18 ages in to appease the "brass" at S&S), like Edward Stratemeyer was having Leslie McFarlane and the other pre-1931 authors do with the different characters back then.  As you recall, between 1927 (The Tower Treasure) and 1930 (The Great Airport Mystery), Frank and Joe aged from being 15 and 16 to being 17 and 18 and even graduating High School in The Great Airport Mystery. (Between The House On The Cliff & The Secret of The Old Mill there is about a 10 month gap, since Cliff takes place in June, but then Mill doesn't start until the following spring)  However, after Edward Stratemeyer died, and his daughters took over, his daughters brought in the "rule" of the boys being stuck at the ages of 17 and 18.  Also if you read the original Tom Swift continuity that ran from 1910-1941, and was picked up again in 1954-1971, the original Tom Swift started that series as a 16-year-old, and throughout the original series he gradually aged to where he was in his very-late-20's to early-30's and married when the series finished, and then in 1954 when Tom Swift and His Flying Lab opened, he was in his mid-to-late-40's, still married, and now with a son and daughter.

But with the Casefiles, as I mentioned in the Thick As Thieves thread, Street Spies says that 18 months had elapsed since the events of Edge of Destruction.  Plus during that 18 months, there were 6 months between Perfect Getaway & The Borgia Dagger where nothing happens, and then you have about 9 months between Disaster for Hire & Scene of the Crime, a time when the Hardy's are only involved with A Crime For Christmas & Shock Waves.  Plus over in the Nancy Drew Files I've also noted gaps of time where Nancy is not doing anything, plus she has graduated High School, and there are events that just don't make sense for her to have happened within even 4 months of graduation (like a High School Class Reunion?  Really, after 4 months?)  So in the Casefiles-Files universe, the ages that are given to the characters don't work.  Plus with the Hardy's, school is very rarely mentioned; it's like the authors and editors took notes from the 1977-1979 Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries TV series where you don't even hear mention of the characters being in school (as I recall from the Peggy Hertz book, Parker Stevenson said that during that show he thought that they might've been playing the characters a little older than what they were in the books, since he was like 25 when the show started in 1977). 

But I did find it interesting at the beginning of The Deadliest Dare that Fenton had Joe filing away papers for him.  The way the author wrote it, I got the feeling that he was trying to infer that Frank and Joe did get paid from their dad to work in his business.  And even a few of the Nancy Drew Files, Carson has asked Nancy to investigate stuff related to a case he's working on (and I recall in the 1977 TV series, a few times, Nancy or Carson would mention that Nancy was working as a PI for him on stuff), so even with her I would assume that she is an employee of Carson's firm.  And later on when we get into the Tom Swift books of the Casefiles-Files universe, I would assume that Tom Jr. even gets a paycheck from Swift Enterprises, since he works there and even steps in for his dad a few times.  So even though payment is not mentioned, it seems like the authors do infer that at different times the Hardy's, Nancy and Tom are employees for their parent's business.

Anyway, back on topic, I found that I had forgotten that Biff Hooper played a big part in The Deadliest Dare.  And again, mention of the events of Deathgame as occurring some time ago is made, and while no clear date is set, it's clear that the author was indicating that quite a long time had taken place between the two books. 

Hard to believe, but in 2020, it's been probably 10-15 years since any of the Hardy's old friends made appearances in the books.  The last book that I remember even Chet Morton appearing in was Comic Con Artist in March 2008.  So it's really interesting to read the Hardy Boys Casefiles & Mystery Stories and see these iconic characters again.  Even Callie Shaw makes an appearance in The Deadliest Dare and she is still driving her Chevrolet Nova (most likely an 80's model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Chevy_II_/_Nova#Fifth_generation_(1985–1988)) that was introduced in Dead On Target (I don't recall ever reading about Callie having her own car in the Mystery Stories, even the later one, so this is one detail of hers that was Casefiles-exclusive).

[MacGyver]

I'm not trying to argue over ages; I'm just stating my perception. I see what you're saying about the logistics of it but I don't generally think too much on that. Technically, as far as the books are concerned, Frank and Joe are 18 and 17, respectively. That's the general age I picture them at in reading the books anyway.
   But everyone has their own mental conception of characters from books.
    And yes- I do recall Biff Hooper being in this book. And that's sad how The Hardy Boys' chums so infrequently appear now.

[tomswift2002]

With the age thing as well, in a lot Casefiles, in my re-read, I've noticed that the authors will mention that Frank and Joe are a year apart, early on, but then an actual age won't be given until late in the book, almost as an after thought or some editor had stuck it in to, as I said, appease "the brass" at S&S.  Otherwise the it feels like Mega-Books was trying to follow the 1977 show when it came to the Hardy's age—-don't mention them.

[tomswift2002]

Just finished The Deadliest Dare.  It started off slow, and the story still had that meh factor all through it, but the action in the end really picked up.  The author kind of left the ending open ended.  Is Curt Branders dead or still alive?

As I recall this was the only book with Curt Branders.
Rating:  6/10.

[MacGyver]

To be fair, the age thing is definitely true on the '70s show and I LOVE that series! Of course, I LOVE the Casefiles too regardless. It is a weird thing though.

[tomswift2002]

In the Casefiles, the age thing almost seems to be a contractual thing between MB & S&S.  "You must state 17 & 18 or the contract is nullified."

[MacGyver]

That very well could be part of the ghostwriter contract and stipulations. All of them are given certain guidelines they have to follow.

[tomswift2002]

That very well could be part of the ghostwriter contract and stipulations. All of them are given certain guidelines they have to follow.

I'm not talking the author contracts.  I'm talking the contract between S&S and Mega-Books.

[MacGyver]

Okay. I'm pretty sure it would still be part of author contracts too though.