Top Ten Casefiles

[P. Walker]

Kinda difficult considering the majority of them i havent yet read or have read but its been 15 plus years or so if not longer:
(although not in any order)
1 Dead on target
2 Evil Inc
3 Beyond the Law
4 Operation Pheonix trilogy
5 Lazarus plot
6 Dead of Night (obviously)
7 Cult of crime
8 True Thriller
9 (cant remember the title but its the one that featured Chris Hardy. I remember liking that one a lot)
10 Brother against brother

[Bigfootman]

Kinda difficult considering the majority of them i havent yet read or have read but its been 15 plus years or so if not longer:
(although not in any order)
1 Dead on target
2 Evil Inc
3 Beyond the Law
4 Operation Pheonix trilogy
5 Lazarus plot
6 Dead of Night (obviously)
7 Cult of crime
8 True Thriller
9 (cant remember the title but its the one that featured Chris Hardy. I remember liking that one a lot)
10 Brother against brother

#9 is "Double Exposure", as that's the only book that Chris Hardy appeared in.

I was just looking over this old topic, and I just remembered that years ago I had seen on the order forms, in the back of the Casefiles from around 1990-1992, that someone at S&S had, accidentally, typed into the Hardy Boys Casefiles order form Make No Mistake, which was actually a Nancy Drew Files title, and it appeared in number of Casefiles (I think it replaced #43Strategic Moves, but I'm not too sure, and the few Casefiles that I did check (#59-66) didn't have the error).

The Nancy Drew Files book "Into Thin Air" was listed on some order forms in as "Into Thin Ice".

[AlwaysAJoefan]

1. Beyond the Law
2. Edge of Destruction
3. Nowhere to Run
4. Deathgame
5. Danger Zone
6. Deadliest Dare
7. Last Laugh
8. Choke Hold
9. Rock N' Revenge
10. Genius Thieves

[tomswift2002]

I was just looking over the old posts, and I realized that I had completely forgotten one book in my list (or else I'm not seeing it), and that is Without A Trace.  I currently picked it up and I was looking back at my list, and boy, this is one book that really slipped through (I even ran a search on the whole forum trying to see if it came up in my list, but it didn't). 

I remember having read Without A Trace over 10 years ago, due to ordering it in through Inter-Library-Loan, but I have not read it since, and so far it is not the best Casefiles, and I'm not having an easy time remember exactly what the boys are doing---and I'm only half-way through the book.  At least it's not as bad as Cave Trap/Survival of THe Fittest.

[MacGyver]

It's been a really long time since I've read Without a Trace, but I recall liking it quite well. Offhand, I recall that the book starts with Frank saying, "I hate tiny planes!" (The boys are flying in an ultralight plane). I don't remember the plot beyond that.
Of course, I like all the books and still don't see what was so bad about Cave Trap and Survival of the Fittest - but we've already been through that- everyone's welcome to their opinion. We don't have to like them all to like The Hardy Boys and be fans and friends.

[tomswift2002]

Actually it was Joe who said that he didn't like small planes, and he said that while he was flying on a small, local airline's airplane.  (The scene reminded me of the trip that I took last year out to British Columbia for my sister's wedding.  I was able to fly Air Canada from Ottawa to Toronto, and Toronto to Vancouver, but then for the leg from Vancouver to the town in the BC interior, I had to take a regional airline's plane which was smaller than Air Canada's jet, and everytime we hit turbulence you really felt it in that tiny plane). 

And Frank is the only one who flies the ultralight (and he's only got his student license in the book).  Joe stays grounded the whole book.

[MacGyver]

Okay, that's right- now more of my memories of the book have been jarred- I'd need to flip through it again to get a total recall on it though.

[tomswift2002]

Or actually Joe does get in the ultralight during the last two chapters once, but otherwise he's grounded the entire book.

[Bigfootman]

Updated my list:
-Skyfire Puzzle is now on the list at number 1
-Poisoned Paradise is on the list, although it's spot could change if something amazing happens in the last two chapters. However, there's several things about the book that already makes it one of the worst:
Goldtooth is one of the most annoying minor villains in Hardy Boys history. The mystery is barely there, the Hardys randomly stumble upon clues. The plot goes to a grinding halt when Frank and Joe get to the rainforest, and most of the book is them wandering through the forest, and them endlessly talking about why the forest is amazing and needs to be saved.
-Deadly Engagement has been removed from the Top 30, as I now barely remember the book at all or what was even about. All I remember is that Frank and Joe are babysitting a cat, and that Frank (or maybe Joe) turned out to have an allergy to some rare food.
-Thick As Thieves is now in the Top 30.

Edit: Just discovered that the main villain of Poisoned Paradise is a generic evil businessman with a ridiculous supervillain lair in the middle of a rainforest. The book is staying where it is on the list.

[MacGyver]

I suppose you include The Skyfire Puzzle because, although it is #85 in The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories series, it's also supposed to be a "test" Casefile, more or less, from what I understand. (Which is the same logic that includes #84 Revenge of the Desert Phantom as well, I believe, and #150 The Crisscross Crime, since that one was apparently originally intended as a Casefile.) However, it still seems like a weird stretch to me, but that's cool. I think I just prefer to stick with the actual published order for the book series- which means I count #84, #85 and #150 as Digests and thus wouldn't include them on a Top 10 list for the Hardy Boys Casefiles.

[tomswift2002]

Poisoned Paradise I remember last reading in the late-90's.  Even then it really didn't stick with me.

[Bigfootman]

Update: "Fright Wave" is now on the list. The book was so forgettable, that I had forgotten that I had even read it a year or two ago. I also moved "Winner Takes All", after remembering more about the book. I will say that I never really liked the Casefiles written by Rick Oliver that much. (I've never read the Ring of Evil trilogy or True Thriller though)

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Where is this top ten list at?

[Bigfootman]

It's at page 4, and now it's right here:

71. Survival Of The Fittest (worst)
70. Poisoned Paradise
69. Toxic Revenge
68. Dead Man In Deadwood
67. Uncivil War
66. Winner Takes All
65. Cold Sweat
64. Mission: Mayhem
63. Shock Jock
62. Street Spies
61. Fright Wave
60. Cave Trap
59. Choke Hold
58. Double Exposure
57. Flesh And Blood
56. Brother Against Brother
55. Final Cut
54. Height Of Danger
53. Nightmare In Angel City
52. The Last Laugh
51. Cult Of Crime
50. Strategic Moves
49. In Self Defense
48. Rock 'N' Revenge
47. Blood Relations
46. Castle Fear
45. Collision Course
44. Diplomatic Deceit
43. Blood Money
42. Too Many Traitors
41. Beyond The Law
40. Without A Trace
39. The Crowning Terror
38. Deadly Engagement
37. Murder By Magic
36. Bad Rap
35. Line Of Fire
34. The Deadliest Dare
33. Acting Up
32. Bad Chemistry
31. The Viking's Revenge
30. The Dead Season
29. Thick As Thieves
28. Wild Wheels
27. See No Evil
26. Dead In The Water
25. Rigged For Revenge
24. Deathgame
23. Trouble In The Pipeline
22. The Crisscross Crime
21. False Alarm
20. Witness to Murder
19. Countdown To Terror
18. Evil. Inc
17. Running On Empty
16. Edge Of Destruction
15. Danger Zone
14. Foul Play
13. Dead On Target
12. Revenge Of The Desert Phantom
11. Stress Point
10. The Phoenix Equation
9. Absolute Zero
8. Highway Robbery
7. Hostages Of Hate
6. Flight Into Danger
5. Hot Wheels
4. The Borderline Case
3. Endangered Species
2. No Mercy
1. The Skyfire Puzzle

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Awesome! I don't remember The Skyfire Puzzle as one of them, though.