Buried in Time (Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: If you can get past the beginning...
Review: I haven't yet found a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mystery that I like. I had the misfortune of reading this one recently.

The first time I attempted this book, I actually screamed and put the story down on the second page, when George -- level-headed, athletic, practical George -- falls head-over-heels in love the instant she lays eyes on a new man.

Nancy ticks her off for asking him (a reasonable, relevant, Miss-Manners-would-approve) question, and George defensively spits back, "I was just, you know, interested!"

Nancy, of course, resorts to the deep inward sigh. She could tell by George's tone of voice that she was in love...

It was just so unbelievably *dreadful*. Can you believe such garbage? Can you believe the defensiveness, the eye-rolling intolerance, the destructiveness of this interaction, the cynical "I'm too polite to tell you that you shouldn't fall for a cute guy, but I'm not grown up enough to realize that it's none of my business" -- and we're only on page 2?

Well, thinking back to junior high, I remember that this was about how it went: She might like him, so her best friend felt rejected, so obviously they have to be jerks about it, and so on. Even the eye-rolling and "just, you know, like, I mean!" were all part of the ritual.

But you kind of hope that people grow out of it. That kind of thing is why junior high is so awful.

The good news is that George's interest in said young man turns out to be irrelevant to the rest of the book; in fact, there's remarkably little of this series' hallmark, which is that investigations must be handled with a strange sort of tact to avoid suggesting that someone's crush might be a suspect.

The rest of the book isn't as bad. The Hardy Boys' plot is beyond belief (do you really think the government would hire a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old to track down missing nuclear material? And then not even give them basic equipment, like a Geiger counter?).

The denouement is a little weak; for example, sudden changes in political and professional positions are announced for no readily apparent reason. (Well, I don't count "we're in L-U-V" to be a readily apparent reason.)

But overall it certainly improves once you get past the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: If you can get past the beginning...
Review: I haven't yet found a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mystery that I like. I had the misfortune of reading this one recently.

The first time I attempted this book, I actually screamed and put the story down on the second page, when George -- level-headed, athletic, practical George -- falls head-over-heels in love the instant she lays eyes on a new man.

Nancy ticks her off for asking him (a reasonable, relevant, Miss-Manners-would-approve) question, and George defensively spits back, "I was just, you know, interested!"

Nancy, of course, resorts to the deep inward sigh. She could tell by George's tone of voice that she was in love...

It was just so unbelievably *dreadful*. Can you believe such garbage? Can you believe the defensiveness, the eye-rolling intolerance, the destructiveness of this interaction, the cynical "I'm too polite to tell you that you shouldn't fall for a cute guy, but I'm not grown up enough to realize that it's none of my business" -- and we're only on page 2?

Well, thinking back to junior high, I remember that this was about how it went: She might like him, so her best friend felt rejected, so obviously they have to be jerks about it, and so on. Even the eye-rolling and "just, you know, like, I mean!" were all part of the ritual.

But you kind of hope that people grow out of it. That kind of thing is why junior high is so awful.

The good news is that George's interest in said young man turns out to be irrelevant to the rest of the book; in fact, there's remarkably little of this series' hallmark, which is that investigations must be handled with a strange sort of tact to avoid suggesting that someone's crush might be a suspect.

The rest of the book isn't as bad. The Hardy Boys' plot is beyond belief (do you really think the government would hire a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old to track down missing nuclear material? And then not even give them basic equipment, like a Geiger counter?).

The denouement is a little weak; for example, sudden changes in political and professional positions are announced for no readily apparent reason. (Well, I don't count "we're in L-U-V" to be a readily apparent reason.)

But overall it certainly improves once you get past the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: This book was the second I've read of the series, and it's one of my favorites. Nancy Drew and George Fayne travel to Oklahoma to help find a thief, and the morning after they arrive, one of their information sources is found dead! Nancy and George investigate the murder while Joe and Frank Hardy are searching for a missing truckload of uranium that has been traced to Altus, Oklahoma. Nancy finds that she has a lot of suspects, and Frank and Joe have a lot of people involved in their case too. Are their cases connected? And will they find the murderer, thief, and the uranium before an even more drastic event takes place? Carolyn Keene's Buried in Time is a great read, with many guesses, suspects, and even a secret romance! This book is great for anyone who is a fan of mystery and detective stories! This is definitely a must-read book!

Rating:
Summary: A really good book!
Review: This was the first book I read out of this series. I wasn't sure if I would like it.Once I read it I was hooked on the series. The way Nancy thinks about her feelings for Frank is great. There should be more romance between them in the series than there is. I've read this book twice, and the second time I liked it even more. I would recomend this book to anyone.