The Haunted Fort (Hardy Boys, Book 44)

This book is the 44th book in the original Hardy Boys series. This book follows "The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior." The next book in the series is "The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge." The Hardy Boys travel to the Millwood Art School to solve the theft of two paintings from the Prisoner-Painter collection of millionaire Jefferson Davenport. The paintings are of nearby Fort Senandaga, where the Prisoner-Painter was held for some time. Crumbling fort Senandaga is the source of several mysteries. A historical mystery is the source of contention between two of the characters in this story. There is also the mystery of a valuable chain of gold created by a commander of the fort. Is the chain a myth, or is it real? If it was real, does it remain hidden near the fort? There seem to be those who believe that the chain is real, for someone continues to steal Prisoner-Painter paintings and their frames, attacking those that stand in their way. During their investigation, Chet Morton, Frank and Joe Hardy encounter a lake monster, a ghost floating over the water, saboteurs of various ilks, secret tunnels, and much more. This story has a good amount of action, surprises and mystery. This book seemed to be much better than the previous two books in this series. There was a good sense of adventure and the boys met with real danger several times. Indeed, many of the characters in this story were attacked. In one case, Chet's car rolled down a steep hill in a foul trick that could have killed all three boys. The action was spaced nicely and there was a good mystery. I would recommend this book to a first time Hardy Boys reader. Fans of the Hardy Boys series will find this book to be of quality similar to the first books in the series. The publisher recommends the Hardy Boys series for ages 8 to 12 because the series is relatively tame for the previous target audience of ages 10 to 14. This particular book is a very good fit for the new age range. Though the Hardy Boys series contains archaic information, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are fine. 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.

The Hardy boys encounter a lot of mysteries during their lifetime. They often help their father, Fenton Hardy with many of his cases. His mother Laura HArdy and their Aunt Gertude always worry about Frank and Joe's cases. Frank, eighteen has dark brown hair and is one year older than the blonde headed Joe hardy who is seventeen. In this mystery they all called upon by their chum Chet Morton to go to his uncles art studio to find out about some mysterious happenings at a French fort. While they are there they are asked to find out about hidden treasure and have to look all over to find some clues to the hidden treasure. Will they find it before a gang does? You won't know until you read the book!!!

It was a great book. I loved it. I never would have thought that the criminals would be who they were. I reccomend this book to anyone who has not read it.

This one is a real nail biter. It is very exciting. Excpecialy when the Hardys encounter all of the painting theives.