The best part of this book was all the scenes involving planes, which is the primary reason I am giving this three stars. The wish-fulfillment quota is very high on this one, lots of chase scenes and fights between the Hardys and the bad guys, and seemingly endless occasions for solving the mystery. I have no idea how the Hardys find time to be track stars and study their ground school for their pilot’s licences and go out with their girlfriends.

On the Hardy Boys Terrible Stereotype Scale, this one ranks less cringey than some other installments. One bad guy is described in stereotypical terms, a helpful store owner is portrayed positively but with some eye dialect, and a group of Caribs is assumed by Chet to be cannibals at first glance :-/ There have definitely been worse installments in this regard. ( )

I hadn't read a Hardy Boys book since I was a kid. I hadn't realized that the first books were written in the 1920's. I was expecting it to be dated, and campy, which is is. I was expecting low-end of mediocre writing, which would have earned it 3 stars. It was the cringe-inducing voodoo-practicing-wild-natives living a few minutes boat ride north Puero Rico that made me feel very generous giving it 2 stars. I get that in the 1950s no natives were portrayed favorably, but wild Carib Indians? Seriously? ( )

I absolutely loved Nancy Drew growing up. This was a series I latched on to for dear life and never let go. So after my obsession with Nancy Drew started to dwindle (mostly because I had read all the ones I could get my hands on), I moved on to The Hardy Boys because that was the natural next step, duh. Love the Hardy Boys (though they weren't quite as amazing and Nancy Drew and her friends). ( )

Review by: Ben R

This book is about two young detectives who uncover a few uncut diamonds in the eyes of a ventriloquist dummy. This clue leads the boys to a fortune teller named Hugo, who is a member of a smuggling gang. Additional clues that the boys discover leads them to and island called Skeleton Rock. It is called this because near the island there is a series of rocks that resemble a skeleton. The book concludes with the boys at last outwitting the thieves. I thought that this book was good, but it could have had more action in it.
Review by: Lyndall

I can't believe I've been going for years without knowing that. ( )

Fine condition