Book name: Trouble in the Pipeline
Author: Franklin W Dixon
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Mega Books
Format: Print
Genre: Vintage children’s fiction
Publication Date: 1989
Star Rating: 5/5
Trouble in the Pipeline is a 'Hardy Boys Casefile', which means that it has a slightly more grown up feel than the original mystery stories.
The 'Hardy Boys Casefile' collection was published by Simon and Schuster between 1987 and 1998.
Frank and Joe are all set to enjoy a party in Bayport when they are stopped by a motorist asking directions to their destination.
They aren’t impressed by the way that the driver drives right over someone’s lawn and almost damages a kids’ bike.
At their destination, the Hardy boys spot the same car.
Frank and Joe meet an old school friend, Doug, at the party. However, he just isn’t himself.
Doug has been working up in Alaska for a company with a contract to maintain oil pipelines. However, he is reluctant to discuss it.
Finally, Doug confides in Frank and Joe that his friend Scott, who worked with him, has disappeared.
He asks the Hardy boys to head up to Alaska to find Scott.
Later, Frank comes across two men beating up Doug. He and Joe rescue their friend.
Doug then admits that he and Scott found out that some managers were taking bribes. The thugs who have just beaten him up were sent by the company to keep him quiet.
Frank and Joe fly to Prudhoe via Seattle the next day. They visit the offices of Trans-Yukon Mining where Doug and Scott worked.
The boss there pretends not to know Scott or recognise his picture. He becomes angry when a receptionist tries to help Frank and Joe.
Back at their hotel, the boys are attacked by four men who break through the walls of their room to take them prisoner.
They wake up on a flight in a small plane but are able to escape by using parachutes in the cargo hold.
This is just the beginning of Frank and Joe’s determined efforts to rescue Scott and discover the truth about what is happening with the mining company up in Alaska.
Along the way, the boys receive lots of help from Virgil, who despite his odd name is from an indigenous Native Alaskan tribe.
Virgil’s helicopter skills are of great use to the boys and he is a firm friend, standing strong despite repeated attempts on their lives by thugs hired by the mining company.
Almost all of the Hardy Boys books are full of action, but Trouble in the Pipeline was particularly brutal in terms of the attacks on the boys and the injuries sustained by those who come after them.
The location was a great choice, and a vivid locale full of tension and danger is always a good sign in a Hardy Boys story.
I loved Trouble in the Pipeline.
Thank you for reading my review.
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If you’ve enjoyed this review, you might be interested reading in my review of The Invisible Intruder by Carolyn Keene.
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