The Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe, are invited by their dad, the famous detective Fenton Hardy, to work on one of his cases. This one involves smugglers bringing stolen drugs into the town of Bayport by boat. In an effort to search for clues, the boys take their telescopes and ride their motorcycles up to a nearby cliff overlooking the ocean. They set up at the Pollitt Place, an old, abandoned house. Training their telescopes out to sea, they spot suspicious looking activity, but are suddenly distracted by a scream coming from inside the house. When they rush in to investigate, they find nothing, but somehow get locked inside. As part of the house starts collapsing, the boys manage to escape, only to find that their motorcycles have been tampered with, and the eyepieces of their telescopes are gone. Heading back to town, Frank and Joe meet with danger in the form of a landslide. While clearing rubble off the road, they witness a boat chase out on the bay. There are shots from one boat and the other one explodes. The driver of the exploding boat is thrown into the water and appears to be drowning. Joe swims out to the rescue. Thus begins book two,The House on the Cliff, in the Hardy Boys series. All of this action happens by page thirty-three, and things get even more exciting after that! Fenton Hardy disappears and it’s up to the boys to find him. There are “swarthy” characters, kidnappings, boat chases, secret passageways in the cliff, a mysterious cargo ship and GUNS! There is a real sense of danger and intrigue in this book, and each chapter endsappropriately with a “cliffhanger”.The House on the Cliff is the first Hardy Boys book I have ever read, and it was much better than I thought it would be. The book is somewhat dated, especially the illustrations and some of the language, but the non-stop action and interesting plot make it a good read, especially for boys in about fourth grade.
My first Hardy Boys book. I read it to my 12 year old, who really enjoyed it and would give it 4.5 stars. I found all the knowledge the boys have on a variety of things interesting and pointed out to my son that these books were instructional (not just with mechanics but things like manners too) as well as entertaining. I read a chapter a night to him and a few nights, at good parts, he'd ask me to read more. However, after reading to both his sisters first it was easy to keep it to just the one and leave him with the light suspense.My son has borrowed the first book from his ELA teacher so we can start that tomorrow. I'm really pleased this has gone so well, especially after the commotion he put up with his refusal the day we started. He now brings me the book if it looks like I might be late starting with him.
What do You think about The House On The Cliff (1987)?
I remember that when I was 8 to 10 years old the Hardy Boys seemed pretty cool. Hell, what's not to like about boys with motorcycles and motor boats? Clearly, I didn't have well developed critical skills. A lot happens in this book that makes very little sense in light of things that happened only a few pages previously. Obviously, the books aren't written for people looking for logical sense, just lots of action, danger, motorcycles and fun. The Hardys have all that, but I think I've matured in the last half century and need a bit more these days.
—Larry Piper
The Hardy Boys The House on the Cliff is a thrilling mystery about two brothers who are determined to find their detective father, Fenton Hardy. The boys father is working on a smuggling case but the two boys are eager to help. When the boys are assigned a look out task their tools are mysteriously stolen and strange screams for help are heard with nobody in sight. The boys later discover that their father has disappeared. When they go back to investigate the cliff from the water they discover a secret passageway that leads to the house on the cliff. The boys enter thepassageway hoping to find their father, well they do and the only struggle now is escaping. Luckily their friends call the poliece and the smugglers are arrested.I love all mysteries and this was a great story that I didn't want to end.
—Emma Frank
The House on the Cliff is the second book in the original Hardy Boys Mystery Series which encompasses some 58 volumes and was published from 1927 and 1979. It was ghostwritten by Canadian journalist and filmmaker Leslie MacFarlane (1902-1977) who followed an outline supplied by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book packager of several children’s series including Nancy Drew, Tom Swift and the Bobbsey Twins series. As are the current Hardy Boys books, The House on the Cliff was published under the penname Franklin W. Dixon.In 1959, amid a plan to revise the first 38 volumes of the series, the book was completely rewritten according to a new outline by Harriet S. Adams (1892-1982), a daughter of Edward Statemeyer (the founder of the syndicate of the same name) who had passed away in 1930. The revision program was undertaken to shorten and simplify the text, to update outmoded words and to change racial references to reflect changing times.Please read the rest of the review here.
—Denise
