#40 Fright Wave (30th Anniversary Review)

[tomswift2002]

Published:  June 1990 (we're only a few days before it turns 31)
Publisher: Archway Paperbacks (1990-1995?), (1998-2002?, Collector's Edition #1)
Author: Rick Oliver

Plot: In rough waters and rough company you always have to watch your back.

Surf's up in Hawaii, and the Hardy boys are riding a crime wave into danger! Somebody's trying to deep-six champion surfer Jade Roberts, and Frank and Joe are determined to keep her from going under.

From Waikiki to Diamond Head, the Hardys find themselves in hot pursuit of a powerful crime boss. In the face of bullet-spraying motorboats and killer copters, they run the risk of suffering the worst wipeout of their lives!

https://youtu.be/fJWmbLS2_ec

https://youtu.be/mP_QXx4eUGM

https://youtu.be/2s4slliAtQU

[NZone]

In an interview, author Rick Oliver dubbed this the "winner of
'worst Casefiles cover ever.'"

[MacGyver]

I appreciate the Beach Boys song links! That's one of my favourite secular groups.

As to the statement from the author- that's interesting. I think the cover is pretty good, even if not the most action-packed ever.
   

[tomswift2002]

When you think back, the Beach Boys Kokomo would've still been in very heavy rotation on radio stations and MTV in 1990 would've only been 23 months since the song came out.  Plus with the surfing craze starting to break around that time, you get the atmosphere of what reading Fright Wave in 1990 would've been like, and if it had been a movie, what it's soundtrack would've been like.

[Bigfootman]

I read this book a long time ago, wasn't very memorable. Only thing I remember is Joe and his one book girlfriend getting trapped on an island used for nuke tests.

[tomswift2002]

So I finished "Fright Wave" the other day.  Reading it now in 2021, it's interesting how fiction has become reality, especially with the FBI and what's been exposed of them by their activities regarding the illegal 2020 election and the FBI's corruption. 

"Fright Wave" deals with corruption in the FBI and the Mafia.  And the Hardy's must go up against the FBI.  And, surprisingly there's no mention of the Hardy's connection to the Network, but "Fright Wave" is sort of a redo of "The Crowning Terror" and the Espionage Resources. 

Unfortunately, while this book fell in the middle of the strongest run in the Casefiles from #'s 35 to 43, this book, unfortunately is the weakest and pretty forgettable.  Although, while reading it, I kept thinking that if "Fright Wave" was a movie, the soundtrack would be made up of Beach Boys, Jan & Dean and other summer fun/beach songs.  So it may have the worst Casefiles cover, it's also one of the weakest Casefiles.

Rating: 4.5/10