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The Hardy Boys #182
The Secret of the Soldier's Gold
GOLD RUSH!
The police in Portugal have asked Fenton Hardy to come help them solve a crime, and Frank and Joe are tagging along. Before they even get on the plane, they're given a mission of their Mrs. Rilke, a friend of the grandmother of one of Frank and Joe's classmates, is sending the boys on a treasure hunt!
After World War II, a defecting German soldier buried a fortune in gold bars in Mrs. Rilke's childhood backyard. She asks the Hardys to recover the treasure so she can donate it to charity. The problem is that another woman now knows about the gold, and she and her sons are looking for it too. Can Frank and Joe find the loot before it falls into the wrong hands?
The police in Portugal have asked Fenton Hardy to come help them solve a crime, and Frank and Joe are tagging along. Before they even get on the plane, they're given a mission of their Mrs. Rilke, a friend of the grandmother of one of Frank and Joe's classmates, is sending the boys on a treasure hunt!
After World War II, a defecting German soldier buried a fortune in gold bars in Mrs. Rilke's childhood backyard. She asks the Hardys to recover the treasure so she can donate it to charity. The problem is that another woman now knows about the gold, and she and her sons are looking for it too. Can Frank and Joe find the loot before it falls into the wrong hands?
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2003
About the author
Franklin W. Dixon
808 books1,005 followersFranklin 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 11, 2015
The Secret of the Soldier's Gold is an amazing mystery solved by the Hardy brothers. The story started by the Hardy boys going to a friends house to learn how to speak Portuguese. Then, an elderly woman named , Rilke, at the house asked the Hardy's a favor. She asked them to fetch her father's gold that was buried in a park in Portugal during World War 2 because her family is low on money. The Hardy's find this case interesting and explore Portugal. When they arrived, the old friend of Mrs. Rilke finds out that the boys are looking for the gold, she sends her sons to deal with it. After the Hardy's make plans, they go out at night to dig up the gold. But then criminals tail the Hardys and steal the suitcase of gold. Soon the Hardys get a message from the criminals saying that the suitcase was full of bricks. It turned out that the gold was in a storage in a bank and Mrs. Rilke came to Portugal to claim it. In return, the Hardys got one gold bar each. The end.
September 5, 2015
I love mysteries! As soon as I saw the title I wanted to read this one! I really liked it! I want to solve a mystery myself!
April 7, 2016
Totally full of action and brilliant mind use!!!!!!Three cheers for the hardy Brothers!!!!!!
December 31, 2020
One of the modern paperback Hardy Boys books, this well-written, interesting and plausible storyline has the Hardys traveling to Portugal in search of a bag of gold hidden in a yard during World War II when Portugal was a neutral country. Despite the fact the boys search for the hidden gold without informing the Portugal government, the mystery is believable and written with a modern tone. While searching for the gold, the Hardys are harassed by radical fascists while Mr. Hardy is involved in a case with his colleagues in Portugal. Many of the higher number Hardy boys paperbacks are of uneven quality, but The Secret of the Soldiers Gold is well-written and a very good story. Like most of the modern Hardy Boys paperbacks it is now out of print, and the quality of the paper and binding is not very good, but it's a shame its not more readily available because this a good, modern Hardy Boys story that even today many boys would find interesting and not as archaic as many of the Hardy Boys books are. If you can track down a used copy, all fans of the Hardy Boys will enjoy The Secret of the Soldiers Gold!
March 26, 2019
One of the better later Hardy Boys. The story isn't too outlandish, it is possible. I'm not groaning to myself, really? They're only trying to follow one mystery and it doesn't tie into their father's case.
My only complaint was that the boys jumped to a theory which I didn't see had any real foundation for them to come to that idea. Maybe a little bit more foundation to show coming to that conclusion would had made it better for me.
It was a good book.
My only complaint was that the boys jumped to a theory which I didn't see had any real foundation for them to come to that idea. Maybe a little bit more foundation to show coming to that conclusion would had made it better for me.
It was a good book.
January 1, 2020
Great book. Not perfect, but I'll round the 4.5/5 up to 5 stars on here.
The brothers go to Lisbon and there's a lot of WWII history here. The whole family goes on a trip (nice to see Laura and ol' Spitfire Gertrude around) and for once the brothers' case doesn't tie into anything Fenton is doing. It's less of a mystery and more of a treasure hunt/thriller, but that's ok. The brothers go against actual fascist neo-Nazi groups. That's crazy. Good book.
The brothers go to Lisbon and there's a lot of WWII history here. The whole family goes on a trip (nice to see Laura and ol' Spitfire Gertrude around) and for once the brothers' case doesn't tie into anything Fenton is doing. It's less of a mystery and more of a treasure hunt/thriller, but that's ok. The brothers go against actual fascist neo-Nazi groups. That's crazy. Good book.
December 21, 2019
One of the later work in the series. Still throughly enjoyed the book.
February 23, 2020
Could have been a great story if it wasn't so rushed
May 3, 2017
Another engaging mystery in this series.
Content Concerns: The usual: mild violence, scenes of peril, etc. Also, Nazis are mentioned.
Content Concerns: The usual: mild violence, scenes of peril, etc. Also, Nazis are mentioned.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews