Hardy Boys 20: Mystery of the Flying Express

This book right here is very suspenseful for a Hardy Boy book, and that is exactly why I liked this book. You wanna know what brought my hair standing to my head? The part where the airplane was flying right over the ship. So if you like a really suspenseful book Hardy Boys style... this one's for you baby :D.

After the complexity of the previous Hardy Boys book, "The Disappearing Floor," I was ready for a bit simpler story, and this book delivers. This time the mystery centers on the Flying Express, a hydrofoil that is just entering service on Barmet Bay. Someone is out to prevent the Flying Express from entering service. Who is behind these attempts? This story is somewhat interesting in the Chet Morton's new hobby, astrology, plays a critical part in the story. Chet's hobbies have often played a part in Hardy Boys books, but in this book his hobby is central to capturing the criminals. The Hardys discover an unusual group of criminals in this mystery, including one who does everything based on his horoscope. The boys also encounter a businessman who seems as though he might have something to do with the mystery, but how, and why? The Hardy boys have frequently encountered criminals who have put them into danger, in addition to the danger they often encounter on their own. This time the criminals do things that could endanger dozens of lives as they try to stop the Flying Express from crossing Barmet Bay. This story is interesting with elements that are educational and enjoyable. The story is paced well and is reasonably easy to follow. While I enjoyed the complexity of the previous story, "The Disappearing Floor," the relative simplicity of the story line in this book was welcomed. Further, though the story line is somewhat simple, there was sufficient complexity to keep the story interesting. Though the Hardy Boys series is written in a relatively archaic fashion, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are excellent. The stories were once recommended for children ages 10 to 14. As children are exposed to more violence and seem to require greater levels of stimulation, the recommended age range has move to 9 to 12. I think any child capable of reading some of the challenging words in these books will enjoy them, regardless of how tame most of the action may be. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.

Dear Mr. Dixon, Hi, I'm a big, big fan of yours. I just absolutely loved your Flying Express book. It was great when Frank was pushed overboard and had to hang over the the blades for thirty seconds when his hands were really wet. Whew! (...) I liked how Chet was turning into an Astrologer every time he met the Hardy Boys. I also liked how Zig who was the gangleader, liked Astrology, just like Chet. My favorite part was when the Hardy's found they're boat and Skee didn't know it belonged to them and let them test drive it but he ended up being arrested on the dock. I just wanted to congratulate you on this book and hope you keep on writing more fantastic books. Your fan, Bobby Hughes

I really liked this book, especially because it's a sea voyage story. It's weird that they call it the Flying Express if it dosen't fly. But it's a good name, still. Most parts of this book are normal, but the end is a little better than the other parts. Some parts are okay since they are just normal and what you'd expect. But overall, this was probably one of my favorites. I recommend that you try it out.

Frank and Joe get tangled with violint crimmanls in this frightning mystery. I would give this book a hundred stars if I could!I couldn't put the book down when I was reading it. I had to see what happend next! That will happen to you too when you read the Mystery of the Flying Express! I promise, you will love this book!!!