What do you think?
Rate this book
The Hardy Boys #163
The Spy That Never Lies
The Hardys find out that the Securitech company has a big contract with Bayport to install and monitor crime surveillance cameras all over town. A city official and is touting the system as the solution to "teen hooliganism", among other things. But when the cameras go off-line, a college student whose job with Securitech is supposed to be part of a computer course, is accused of giving away secret information. Did he breach a confidentiality agreement or did someone else crack the codes he wrote?
147 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 16, 2010
A car is coming at you faster than a speeding bullet.Then it slams on the brakes and throws bottles towards you.Now you are wondering who did that.Later on these cameras come in town and,now a bunch of trouble starts.
May 11, 2019
Damn, what?? This book is so much better than I expected and way better than the preceding Hardy Boys books. This is one of the best digests by far. Holy crap! I was not prepared for this.
This book has it all. Multiple literary allusions, direct references to a couple of their past cases, the return of Jamal: The Hardy Boys' Official Black Friend, and more. There was actual political intrigue, the Hardys went up against a foe who was actually connected, they actually ran afoul of their usual friends in the police force, Fenton and Laura were both involved, we got Con Riley *and* Chief Collig, we had a gang, some interesting characters, a side-character romantic subplot that was fun and didn't bog the story down... holy crap.
Oh, and let's not forget the main part of this book: a relatively nuanced examination of how Big Brother-esque surveillance doesn't make you any more safe, how even though the camera never lies (the security cameras are the titular "spies that never lie"), footage can be manipulated to tell wildly different stories than what really happened... Hell, we even get multiple critiques on how the security only focuses on the rich neighborhoods and leaves the impoverished behind, motivating the crime to happen more in the poor neighborhoods. One of the Hardys even cracks "do they think that poor people don't get robbed?"
The mystery was a little on the weak side but I think only because the summary/back cover gave away way too much. Even then it wouldn't have been masterful but it was certainly still good enough.
For a Hardy Boys book this was really a diamond in the rough. Wow.
This book has it all. Multiple literary allusions, direct references to a couple of their past cases, the return of Jamal: The Hardy Boys' Official Black Friend, and more. There was actual political intrigue, the Hardys went up against a foe who was actually connected, they actually ran afoul of their usual friends in the police force, Fenton and Laura were both involved, we got Con Riley *and* Chief Collig, we had a gang, some interesting characters, a side-character romantic subplot that was fun and didn't bog the story down... holy crap.
Oh, and let's not forget the main part of this book: a relatively nuanced examination of how Big Brother-esque surveillance doesn't make you any more safe, how even though the camera never lies (the security cameras are the titular "spies that never lie"), footage can be manipulated to tell wildly different stories than what really happened... Hell, we even get multiple critiques on how the security only focuses on the rich neighborhoods and leaves the impoverished behind, motivating the crime to happen more in the poor neighborhoods. One of the Hardys even cracks "do they think that poor people don't get robbed?"
The mystery was a little on the weak side but I think only because the summary/back cover gave away way too much. Even then it wouldn't have been masterful but it was certainly still good enough.
For a Hardy Boys book this was really a diamond in the rough. Wow.
June 18, 2020
The Hardy boys don't really solve anything in this book. And what exactly is the spy that never lies?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews