The Skyfire Puzzle

Reviewed on 4th June 2022

This 1985 Hardy Boys novel continues in the new style established in the previous novel. It has become something more akin to a techno thriller, properly introducing the boys’ “Super Van”, kitted out with more gadgets than a James Bond car. Not the only thing that this novel seems to use in homage to Bond.

The violence feels a bit over the top, and I hope they are able to find the way back to something a bit less about guns as the authors get used to this new style.

Meanwhile the plot feels like it’s been recycled from an earlier novel - perhaps indicating that the publishers were in a hurry to get some books out in this new style and so didn’t worry about originality.

However the realism of the plot totally drops off here, and almost feels like a Shark Jumping climax. Then the author needs to add a final chapter just to explain the plot to the audience, which feels like a weak way to end.