The Hardys get a call for help from their friend Phil Cohen: seems his cousin, a project manager at a software company, can’t find Steven Royal, the eccentric designer of the company’s popular Chaos games. Is his disappearance a move in a deadly real-life game?
Franklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors who were part of a team that wrote The Hardy Boys novels for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (now owned by Simon & Schuster). Dixon was also the writer attributed for the Ted Scott Flying Stories series, published by Grosset & Dunlap. Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s. The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.
This was a very good and well put together mystery. It was about a kidnapped game creator that is known to be a little on the eccentric side. The boys are tasked with trying to track him down, as well as locating a final draft of the most recent game he was creating before he disappeared. There is a deadline that the company has already set for the release date of the new game in the Chaos Saga Series of Games. There are a lot of exciting elements that the author included to really make the book exciting and entertaining for readers to enjoy.
Okay, props to the title of the book because it sounds all edgy and shit but no, the mystery literally involves a series of computer games called "Chaos." Good one, guys.
Unfortunately, after the front cover, the book really went downhill. Sorry, an indie video game developer has the resources to, what, engineer robotic spiders, control a forest with an actual wolf-dog (?), rig a mansion with death traps, make a giant gorilla robot, fake their own death in the tropics... what??? Is this a damn cartoon? Few Hardy Boys books stretch your suspension of disbelief like this one.
The reason I picked up this book from the shelf is because the cover looked really cool and intimidating to read because of the colour and the picture. I have read quite a few of the Hardy Boys series and wanted to see how this book would work out. But the main reason was I really like solving the puzzles and mysteries.
This series is about when a famous game designer, Steven Royal, goes missing and the game's deadline for it's release is on its way soon, and if the deadline reaches before they find the game, it's all over for the game company. The two brothers, Frank and Joe Hardy are on their way to solving the case. But along the way, mysterious riddles start to appear which slows the Hardys down. As they get to the final step of solving their mystery, they find out it wasn't who they thought it was.
In this book, I really liked the villain because they cover their tracks well and the way they set up traps to slow down who ever are after them. Also they hide themselves really well so no one can ever suspect it is them. But alas, the traps and tricks aren't good enough to stop the Hardys on cracking the case.
One thing I learnt in this book is the skill of deduction. This is when you eliminate all possibilities until you get to the right answer. This has helped me a lot when I am playing, at school, or even when I am reading other mystery books.
A quote I picked out from the book was "that with a little bit of work, we can put them all together" and it was said by Frank Hardy. This quote appealed to me because it means that you have to work hard to get what you want. In this case, everyone is working hard to fit all the puzzle pieces together so they can find out where Steven Royal is.
Overall I think this book is really good for a quick time spender because it makes your brain going. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys short stories with adventure and crime.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This story happens in Connecticut. Frank and Joe are hired by Phil's cousin to find a computer game creator named Steven Royal. They get stuck in a web made of rope by a mechanical spider. They get chased by a rolling boulder and a mechanical giant ape. They get stuck in a house that has deadly clocks!! When the clock strikes 13, the clock face pops open and the hands shoot out like arrows. This book was really scary at the end. I was nervous and I had to keep reading to find out what happened.