#35 The Dead Season (30th Anniversary Review)

[tomswift2002]

The Dead Season
Published: January 1990
Written by: Unknown as of September 2020
Pubished by: Archway Paperbacks (1990-1995?)

Plot: Callie's cousins, Gary and Janet Shaw , invite Callie and a couple of friends, to Barbados to visit them at their hotel, Runner's Harbor.  However, as soon as Callie and the Hardy's land in Barbados, strange things start to happen.  First, none of the taxi driver's want to drive them to Runner's Harbor, and upon getting to the hotel they are met by a gunman wearing a suit and hat from the 1920's, who has no physical face!  Are the Hardy's and Callie going to be battling supernatural elements during their stay, or is there a reasonable explanation?

Review:  First off, let me start by talking about the cover art!  This is one of the best, and I think iconic covers of any Hardy Boys book!  Frank, Joe, Callie and the Ghost Gunman!  That is the scene from the end of Chapter 1! 

Anyway, as I'm reading this book now, in 2020, it's reminding me of the Gamecube game Luigi's Mansion, which of course came out 11 years after this book (2001), so there was no way the game inspired the book, however, I have to wonder if some of the people working on the game had read this book and were inspired by it (like the piano playing at midnight).  Of course, a lot of the stuff in this book also seems to be taken from old film noire movies: hidden treasure, trap doors, secret tunnels, etc. 

[tomswift2002]

I could see the book being turned into a Nancy Drew type game.

[MacGyver]

This one is a great read for Halloween. I like that The Hardy Boys books delve into the supernatural at times. It can be a fun break from the standard formula. However, I'm also glad that it is only a once-in-a-while thing, rather than a constant theme.
    And I agree that the cover art is awesome! I also appreciate that it's another early Casefiles book that utilized Callie as a major character in the books, helping solve the mysteries alongside Frank and Joe. (Reminiscent of the first season of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in that regard.)
     Since the book is set in Barbados, I'm surprised the hotel isn't spelt Runner's Harbour. 
I'm also glad to see The Hardy Boys travelling internationally here! I'm particularly happy that they went to the Caribbean, as one who grew up in the Caribbean myself.
   I look forward to seeing the rest of your review later.

[tomswift2002]

So I finished the book today.  Really, when I compare it to other Hardy Boys "Ghost Stories", this was better than Haunted and part of it felt like it could've come from the Mystery Stories Ghost Stories book. 

Also, the author had Frank, Joe and Callie stay in seperate rooms at the hotel, so there was no Frank and Callie sleeping together or hints of that.  And, with Callie, I'm finding that she's more interesting than Frank's current girlfriend, Jones, in the Adventures series (Jones has appeared in 2 books, and yet I know just about zip about her and why Frank fell for her!) 

It was also interesting how many times the author had Frank and Joe going off on their own.  Unfortunately there were no seperate Callie scenes, but still it was interesting that the author had Frank and Joe go seperate ways.  You actually had Joe discover the hidden treasure by accident. 

Then there is the death in the book.  Yes, The Dead Season actually has someone get killed, and not by gunshot.  Joe and a suspect are on a dock at the end, and the dock had been weakened by a storm earlier in the book, and the dock breaks up and the suspect is swept out to sea, before telling Joe a minor part of the clue that the suspect was about to reveal. (It was who had told the guy about the treasure.)

Also it's intersting how the plot deals with events from the 1920's surrounding prohibition.  And in a way this kind of dates the book, as characters mention on various occasions that Wiley Reed, the "ghost" that supposedly haunts Runners Harbor, that he went missing over 60 years earlier (his last time seen is given as 1929), so by saying 60 years it dates the book to the 80's, although with the "over 60 years" it could easily be people just doing extremely quick math, like most people will say that it's been over 50 years since Elvis's Jailhouse Rock hit the charts.

Rating: 9/10

[MacGyver]

Nice review. I haven't read this in a very long time but I do remember some of the basic premise at least. One of these days, I would enjoy rereading The Hardy Boys books in order.
    And yes- I'm glad I don't have to worry any, stated or implied, sexual immorality in these books. I certainly that continues to be the case with newer books.