Nancy Drew Clue in the Diary First and Rick Brant Lot Comments

Back in 2014, some first printing Nancy Drew books sold on eBay, detailed in this post.  One of the books was the first printing of The Clue in the Diary with dust jacket.  The purchaser paid $997.56 for the book and put it back up for sale at $3,999.99.  I stated in my blog post, "I'm not sure that I have ever seen the first printing of The Clue in the Diary sell for above $2,500, so I am skeptical as to whether the seller can get that much."

I kept track of the seller's attempts to sell the book, since I did not think the book could be sold for more than $2,500.  It took over a year, but the seller was finally about to sell the book at $1,499.99.  I'm glad that the seller did not take a loss on the book, but with eBay and PayPal fees, it was a very close call.
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Back in early February, I bought the complete set of Rick Brant books in the Grosset and Dunlap picture cover edition.  I wrote the following on Facebook on February 7, the day I received the books.

I was the person who won the auction for the expensive complete set of Rick Brant books on eBay nearly one week ago.  I enjoyed the Rick Brant books enough that I would very much like to have copies of the final books.  Now I have #1-23 in the original Grosset and Dunlap edition.  I don't have #24.  I hope to sell all the extras for enough to take my cost for #22 and #23 down to what I consider a reasonable level (albeit not cheap, obviously).

This was a risky transaction, and I am relieved to have the books on hand.  The seller has some negatives, and that was a concern.  I cringed when I saw the box today.  Notice that you can actually see the books through the tape across the middle of the box.  The books were not wrapped, so that tape could have ended up against the books if the package had been damaged.  I also cringed when I opened the box.  Looking at the picture of the box after I opened it, the book at the top left is #23 and the book at the far right is #22.  The books were in there a bit tight. The books are all fine. **Big sigh of relief.**

This is the photo I took of the outside of the box where the books can be seen in the gap between the flaps.

That worried me.  The next photo is what I saw when I opened up the box.  #23 is at the top left and #22 at the far right.  Those are the two valuable books, and of course, they were placed in positions that put them in greater danger of being damaged.  Somehow it always happens that way.

Here are the books after they were removed from the package.  All books arrived undamaged.

I paid $835.05 for this set of books, and that is quite a bit more than I wanted to pay.  I raised my bid amount near the end after I decided that I would be foolish not to go for it.  The goal was to get Danger Below! and The Deadly Dutchman at less than what I would expect to pay by purchasing each individually.  I planned to sell all the extras.  After the extras were sold, then my remaining cost would be what those two books ultimately cost me.

At around the time I bought this set, the original edition of The Deadly Dutchman sold for $305.00.  A reprint of Danger Below! sold for $200.00.  The original edition of Danger Below! is worth more than the reprint.  More recently, two near complete sets of Rick Brant books sold for far less than what I paid for my set, but each set contained just one of the two scarce books.

 

Of course, if I had bid on either of those two lots, they would have closed at higher prices, possibly much higher.  One can never know for sure what would have happened.  But then, I wouldn't have ended up with both scarce books.

So, how did I do on my lot?  I have now sold all of the extras except for one.  #22 and #23 ended up costing me a total of $369.00, or $184.50 each.  My goal was to pay less than $250.00 per book and hopefully less than $200.00 per book.  I succeeded.

The Feathered Cape by Hal Goodwin

Bookseller image from AbeBooks.com

Hal Goodwin wrote the Rick Brant series under the pseudonym John Blaine.  He also wrote The Feathered Cape, which was published in 1947, the same year as the first Rick Brant book.  The Feathered Cape is set in 1792 and features Jonathan Blaine, a young man with red hair.

Jonathan Blaine was picked up by a British ship near the coast of Massachusetts.  The British used the pretense that Jonathan and others were renegade Englishmen, thereby forcing them into service.  Jonathan attempts to escape more than once and finally succeeds while in the Hawaiian islands.  Jonathan takes part in the battle for control of the Hawaiian islands as Kamehameha seeks to unite the islands.

The overall atmosphere of this book is similar to the Rick Brant books set in exotic locations in the Pacific Ocean.

The book contains many Hawaiian words.  The book has a glossary with the definition and pronunciation of every Hawaiian word used in the story.  I really like that the book gives information on how to say the words.  However, after a while, I began to find the Hawaiian words to be distracting, similar to how I felt with the Greek words in The Greek Symbol Mystery.

I did not enjoy the last one-third of the book very much.  The book isn't bad; rather, this is the kind of book that appeals more to a boys' series fan.  I didn't get much out of the battle scene and was not that interested in the last part of the book.  I wasn't overly interested in what happened to Jonathan.  I read it all mainly for the sake of reading the entire book and also to see whether I was correct about whether Jonathan would stay or leave Hawaii.

Rick Brant #24 Magic Talisman and Final Thoughts

In Rick Brant #24, The Magic Talisman, Scotty becomes reacquainted with some old friends he knew from the Marines, Derek and David Cameron, who are magicians.  The Camerons set up their magic act in an old mansion.  Their first performance is manipulated by an unknown person, so Rick and Scotty investigate.  Adding to the mystery, Jan senses a friendly presence in the mansion as well as an unfriendly one near the mansion.

I have mixed feelings about the plot.  The magic talisman's properties bother me, since I am not convinced that the talisman would have done as much as the book depicted and not so easily.  I had to ignore how I felt about the talisman.

In the early chapters of the book, I thought that the presence that Jan felt was a ghost.  I then realized that she was sensing a living person who was hidden in the mansion.  I wish that had been more clear, and I would have had less trouble with it.  I am very skeptical about the existence of ghosts.  I do not have a problem with a person sensing that more is present than is visible.

I know from personal experience that it is possible to know something that has not yet happened.  I have one instance in my life where I knew a very specific piece of information before it came to fruition.  It was quite unsettling until I came to terms with it.  So while I am a strong skeptic of the supernatural, I do know that sometimes events occur that cannot be explained through science.

I can't say that the events of this book caused me to suspend disbelief anymore than did the climax of The Scarlet Lake Mystery, so The Magic Talisman is not any less believable than the ending of that book.  The only difference is that the former deals with science and the latter with the paranormal.  

According to series book researchers, The Magic Talisman was written between Rocket Jumper and The Deadly Dutchman.  The book was rejected by Grosset and Dunlap for various reasons including the presence of ESP and magic.  When fans heard about the unpublished manuscript years later, they begged for it to be published.  It finally was published in 1990, although Hal Goodwin did make changes to what he originally wrote.  Fans do not know exactly what was changed, except that the story was changed so as to provide closure to the series.

Readers of the higher numbered Rick Brant books can make some assumptions about the future relationships of the young people, but The Magic Talisman leaves no doubt, which gives the series a definite ending.  Most series end without warning, which is what happened to the Rick Brant series in the 1960s.  It is quite neat that the author provided closure to the series more than two decades later.

I read this story via a PDF file, which I found online.  While the PDF has some words run together and a few errors, it is easy to read and a good alternative to spending a fortune for an actual copy of the book.  Some of the other high-numbered Rick Brant books can also be found online, possibly all of them.  I normally do not recommend free texts of books that are not in the public domain, but the books are not available in print copies.  I always purchase legal copies, but the only legal copies sell secondhand at rather extreme prices.

I greatly enjoyed reading the Rick Brant series.  When I made my impulsive decision to read the series, I somehow knew that I would enjoy them, and I knew that my certain belief was a bit odd.  Hmm... perhaps that was a touch of ESP on my part, since I had never been even slightly inclined to read the books.  Somehow I knew I would enjoy reading them in spite of my past lack of interest.  I was right, because I enjoyed all of them, even the stories that I didn't like quite as much.

I did not find that the books near the end of the series declined in quality.  I felt that the books remained strong.  Some of them were different, but they were still good stories.

I have mentioned that I do not have a good track record with boys' series.  I guess I can't make that blanket statement now.  I do like Rick Brant a lot, and I enjoyed the series more than I did Ken Holt.  I did like Ken Holt, but I also had problems with the books.  I will be reading the Ken Holt books again, so look for those thoughts soon.

Rick Brant #22 Deadly Dutchman and #23 Danger Below!

In Rick Brant #22, The Deadly Dutchman, Rick gets invited to a scientific conference in Europe.  Rick invites Scotty to come to Europe after the conference is over so that the two of them can take a vacation.  After Scotty arrives, he is attacked by men who want him to hand over a message.  Scotty swears that he doesn't have a message, but the men refuse to believe him.  Thus begins a most harrowing adventure for Rick and Scotty.

This book has no science.

The content is a bit dark with somewhat graphic descriptions of violence.  I cringed at one point and came close to cringing a few other times, and that usually doesn't happen to me when reading vintage series books.  This book almost fits into the modern young adult book category.

This book is a travelogue book, and I did find some of it to be more than I would have liked.  However, most of the descriptions of Holland were interesting, and I enjoyed the travelogue aspect more than I do in the average Nancy Drew travelogue.  I learned several things about Holland that I did not know.

The character of Gretchen is rather interesting.  Take this passage, for instance.

Gretchen shrugged.  "Oh, I knew you could take him, even with your hands tied.  He is too slow and stupid to get out of his own way.  And I was right, wasn't I?"

Scotty smiled weakly.  "I wish I'd had your confidence."

"If he had killed you, I would have shot him," Gretchen assured him earnestly.

Scotty stared.  "That's nice," he managed.

Gretchen is dead serious.  She makes more bloodthirsty comments in other passages.  She's a bit scary, just like much of what happens in this book.

This is a thrilling book, with a suspenseful climax.  I greatly enjoyed it.

In Rick Brant #23, Danger Below!, a hurricane bears down on Spindrift Island.  Rick and Scotty spot a man setting up a tent on the New Jersey shore.  The man claims to be a meteorologist collecting data.  Rick and Scotty find it odd that the man would be staying in a tent.  Meanwhile, a ship has to release an oil drilling platform while towing it due to stormy waters, and the platform just happens to be lost above a deep ocean trench.

I had the same feeling while reading the first two-thirds of this book as I had while reading The Wailing Octopus.  This may have more to do with the plots being centered around scuba diving than anything else, but I felt tense expectation while reading this book.  There is something about diving down in the ocean that adds suspense and makes the reader expect complications.  Rick and his friends have some very interesting and dangerous complications while scuba diving!

Unfortunately, I did not find the last one-third of the book to be as interesting.  The suspense disappeared, and the plot centered around extremely detailed technical information about deep-sea diving.  The information was too much for me, and I had to begin skimming it.  The climax of the book wasn't that interesting to me, either, and I skimmed the last few pages of the book.

The first two-thirds of this book is excellent, while I found the last one-third to be mediocre.

Rick Brant #20 Veiled Raiders and #21 Rocket Jumper

In Rick Brant #20, The Veiled Raiders, Rick and Scotty travel to Africa with Tony Briotti.  Tony plans to check whether an archaeological find is significant enough to warrant a dig.  The three also plan to join Parnell Winston later for a satellite communications demonstration.  Rick, Scotty, and Tony end up abducted and imprisoned by an Emir who seeks vengeance against all Americans because he believes that an American fed him a pork hot dog.

I have browsed through both old and more recent discussions of the Rick Brant books, and around 15 years ago, a number of fans thought that the premise with the hot dog was farfetched and weak.  Now, many fans realize that it actually isn't farfetched at all.  Events from recent years show that this story is more realistic than fans once thought.  In fact, if the book's events were to happen right now, the Emir's reaction would likely be far stronger than how it was depicted in the book.

In The Veiled Raiders, Rick and his friends have to overcome overwhelming obstacles.  Many series books feature everything working out as expected, especially when great effort is applied.  In The Veiled Raiders, the boys experience failure over and over in spite of very detailed planning but manage to persevere in the end with great struggle.  Interestingly, some fans do not like this book because of the struggles, while this book is a great favorite of other fans.

So what do I think?  This book is awesome.  It is very engaging from start to finish.  It grabbed my attention quickly and held my attention firmly with no boring parts.  I often grow tired towards the end of books when the falling action drags, but no part of this book dragged.  I loved reading every passage in the book, so I place this book as one of the three Rick Brant books I have enjoyed the most, along with The Phantom Shark and The Wailing Octopus.

In Rick Brant #21, Rocket Jumper, Rick and Scotty go to Nevada with Dr. Winston to work on a top-secret project.  Information has leaked out about the project, and Rick and Scotty are to keep their eyes open for anything strange.  Since Dr. Winston had promised Barby and Jan that they would get to go on the next expedition, they get to go to Nevada as well.

The culprits were rather obvious in this book, but that did not take away from my enjoyment of the story.  I enjoyed trying to figure out how the culprits were getting the information.

This book is thoroughly engaging, and even some of the science is interesting as well.  I did, however, have to skim some of the scientific descriptions.  The climax of this book is quite thrilling and is among the very best in the Rick Brant series.  This is an excellent book.   

Rick Brant #18 Flying Stingaree and #19 Ruby Ray Mystery

In Rick Brant #18, The Flying Stingaree, Rick and Scotty sail aimlessly in their houseboat in Chesapeake Bay with their only goal to visit Steve Ames at his home.  Rick sees a stingaree fly over their boat during a storm, and later, a stranger warns the boys not to be nosy about a certain man.  Of course the boys get involved, sensing a connection between the man and the stingaree, and soon, Steve Ames is just as engrossed in the boys' mystery.

In a bit of cross promotion, Rick asks Ken Holt for help in identifying the man in a photograph.  Likewise, Ken Holt asks Rick Brant for assistance in one of the Ken Holt books.

As with a number of the Rick Brant books, I found this book slow to get started.  The overall pace of the book is slow.  I found the climax of the book to drag a bit too much for my taste.  The events seemed to go on and on.  I enjoyed this book, but not as much as many of the others in the series.

In Rick Brant #19, The Ruby Ray Mystery, Rick and Scotty attend a scientific conference in Europe with Hartson Brant.  While at the conference, Steve Ames contacts the boys, asking them to keep an eye on one of the scientists, Dr. Keller.  He believes that Dr. Keller may be in trouble and wants the boys follow him.  This request leads Rick and Scotty on a harrowing trip across Europe.

On page 5, we learn that the word laser is "made up of the first letters of the phrase 'light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.' "  Nowadays we are so familiar with lasers that the word doesn't need to be defined.

On page 15, the boys use "knapsacks of the kind used by European schoolboys for carrying lunches and books.  The boys had purchased the knapsacks for their own use at home because they were practical and easier to carry than a bag or briefcase."  I do believe that we are talking about backpacks, which must not have been yet in vogue in 1964.

Rick and Scotty come across as full adults in this book, even though they are still described as boys.  The plot of this book is quite sophisticated and also a bit convoluted.  However, the complicated plot does not detract from the story.  This is a thoroughly engaging book.  It is interesting to see how the boys track Keller across Europe.

Rick Brant #16 Egyptian Cat Mystery and #17 Flaming Mountain

In Rick Brant #16, The Egyptian Cat Mystery, Rick and Scotty travel to Egypt with Parnell Winston.  Winston will be working on a project while the boys enjoy Egypt.  As a favor to a new acquaintance, Bartouki, Rick and Scotty take an Egyptian cat prototype with them to give to Bartouki's business partner.  The boys have trouble making the delivery, as it turns out that other men try to take the Egyptian cat away from them.

The Egyptian cat consists of lead that is covered with plastic.  Somehow the plastic makes the cat look like a reproduction of an authentic Egyptian artifact.  This is somehow an extraordinary idea, although I can't image how plastic over lead looks and feels just like sandstone.  That aside, this excellent idea is to be rushed into production in Egypt, so the boys take the statue to Egypt.  The story doesn't ring true.  I knew that the cat had to have been designed to hide something, yet the boys wonder for the entire book why the cat is important.  It's hard to enjoy a book when the protagonists, who have 15 previous adventures behind them and are seasoned detectives, act like complete idiots.

The cover art to this book is in the style of the later Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Nappi covers, which is quite different from other Rick Brant books.

I did not find this story to be engaging.  It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, but the story didn't grab me.  The main reason probably has to do with the lack of a mystery about the cat, since I knew that it had to contain something important.  I did enjoy some parts of the book greatly, but much of the book was mediocre.

In Rick Brant #17, The Flaming Mountain, the Spindrift scientists head to San Luz island to try to save it from a volcanic eruption.  Fears are increasing that a volcanic eruption is imminent, and the Spindrifters gather data in hopes of coming up with a means to prevent an eruption from destroying the island.

This book is a return to the kind of adventure that I enjoy, although I do miss Chahda.

This is an engaging book.  The solution is a bit hard to believe.  As long as the reader doesn't worry about how logical that part is, then the book is quite enjoyable.

Rick Brant #14 Pirates of Shan and #15 Blue Ghost Mystery

In Rick Brant #14, The Pirates of Shan, Howard Shannon and Tony Briotti have disappeared while on an expedition in the Sulu Sea.  Rick, Scotty, and Zircon travel to the Philippines to see if they can find the missing scientists.  They soon learn that the Pirates of Shan are likely responsible for abducting the scientists and that the pirates are formidable opponents!

This book reads like a companion novel to The Golden Skull since the setting is once again the Philippines along with the surrounding area and includes some of the same characters from that book.

I thought that Chahda's English pronunciation took a nosedive in this book.  Why make him seem more stupid?  Speaking of Chahda, this was the last book to feature him.  Some people have theorized that perhaps the changing times caused Chahda to be dropped from the series because of the racial stereotyping.

This is possible, since The Pirates of Shan was published in 1958.  The last Nancy Drew book to have obvious racial stereotyping was The Haunted Showboat, which was copyrighted 1957. 

This book has no science and is purely adventure.

In one scene, Rick carefully avoids killing a pirate and finds a way to knock him out.  In another scene, Rick and Scotty shoot pirates with a rifle and arrows.  While the reader does not know for sure, it is implied that some pirates die.  It's a bit strange for Rick to go to great lengths to avoid killing a pirate and then go on an apparent killing spree later in the book.

As always, the beginning of the book has much expository information, although it did not drag as much for me as in some other books.  It is at about page 63 that the main action truly begins, and the book is quite fast-paced from that point on.

This book is quite good.

In Rick Brant #15, The Blue Ghost Mystery, Barby and Jan beg the boys to come investigate the ghost that appears near the Millers' property in Virginia.  The ghost of a Union soldier appears nightly near the old mine.  Rick and Scotty believe that the ghost is a hoax and set out to prove it.

This is another of those stories where a ghost is used to frighten people.  I find it hard to believe that everyone would have been frightened away from a campsite because of a ghost sighting.  Nowadays, everyone would flock to the campsite with their cell phones waiting to take pictures of the ghost so that they could post the pictures on Facebook.

While I enjoyed this book, I did not find this story to be very compelling.  It was enjoyable, but in some places I felt like the story dragged. 

Rick Brant #12 Electronic Mind Reader and #13 Scarlet Lake Mystery

In Rick Brant #12, The Electronic Mind Reader, Steve Ames asks for Spindrift's help with a top secret government project.  Two scientists who were working on the project have been hospitalized with broken minds, and no one knows what happened.  Rick feels that someone has infiltrated the project, even though no evidence of infiltration can be found.  The Brants worry that the scientists on Spindrift Island will be the next victims.

This book grabbed me from the beginning.  The plot advances nicely without any boring parts.  Even the scientific descriptions were brief enough not to be annoying.

It was nice having Barby and her new friend, Jan, take a role in the plot, even though their role was secondary.

I greatly enjoyed this book.

In Rick Brant #13, The Scarlet Lake Mystery, Rick and Scotty go undercover at Scarlet Lake, a top-secret rocket launch site.  A saboteur, known as "The Earthman," has caused several projects to fail at a great loss of money.  Meanwhile, expensive electronic parts disappeared around the time of each accident. 

The boys visit several casinos, although they do not gamble since they are not old enough.  I thought it was interesting to have scenes in casinos.

Some parts of the plot are a bit hard to believe, especially the climax.  The entire time I was reading the climax, I kept asking myself how likely it was that the events would transpire as they did.  I decided that some aspects were narrowly believable, while others were not. 

This is a very good book.  As with many other Rick Brant books, I found the early part of the book to be somewhat less interesting, although I still enjoyed it.  The later part of the book is outstanding.

Rick Brant #10 Golden Skull and #11 Wailing Octopus

In Rick Brant #10, The Golden Skull, Rick and Scotty journey to the Philippines with Tony Briotti in search of a golden skull.  The priceless artifact is said to be hidden in the mountains of the Philippines.  Soon after their arrival, the boys find themselves in danger, as others wish to find the golden skull.

Like with some of the other books in this series, the story was a little slow getting started.  The story became very interesting around page 80 and continued all the way to the end of the book.

This book is full of information about the Philippines, which I found interesting.  None of it comes across as a history lesson, which is important.  I do not like travelogue books that devote lots of text to education about the country being visited.  This book imparts information in an engaging fashion without coming across as a school lesson.

I greatly enjoyed this book.

In Rick Brant #11, The Wailing Octopus, Rick, Scotty, Tony, and Zircon travel to the Virgin Islands.  For once, the trip is purely for recreation, although Rick and Scotty hope to unearth a shipwreck and find a golden statue.  The boys encounter Steve Ames in Charlotte Amalie.  Steve asks for their help in getting rid of a man who is shadowing him.  That chance encounter puts the boys in grave danger, and multiple attempts are made on their lives.

This book starts fast without the usual extended expository introduction.  Very quickly, the reader realizes that that Rick and Scotty are in grave danger from the villains, and that knowledge keeps the reader in constant suspense.  I felt tense with expectation the entire time I read this book.  The feeling was very similar to how I felt while reading The Phantom Shark.

The Phantom Shark was my favorite Rick Brant book up to that point.  I like this book even more than The Phantom Shark. This book is close to being a perfect book.  It engaging from start to finish.

Rick Brant #8 Caves of Fear and #9 Stairway to Danger

In Rick Brant #8, The Caves of Fear, Chahda sends a coded telegram to Spindrift Island.  After decoding the message, the boys discover that Chahda is in danger and that he needs their help.  Rick, Scotty, and Zircon travel to Hong Kong to follow the clues that Chahda provided.

While science plays a role as always, I did not find it distracting.  This book has no lengthy descriptions of scientific concepts.

I found this story to be very engaging, especially once the group arrives in Hong Kong.  I read this book much faster than I did the previous book.  The books I enjoy the most are ones that provide adventure without including an overabundance of tedious detail.  This book fit both conditions, so I enjoyed it greatly. 

In Rick Brant #9, Stairway to Danger, the scientists from Spindrift Island are building a robotic bulldozer for the government.  Meanwhile, Jerry and Barby's vehicle is struck by a hit-and-run driver.  Rick and Scotty are determined to find the culprit and soon believe that the culprit is hiding in an amusement park next to the building where the Spindrift scientists are working on the robot.

After Jerry and Barby are struck by the hit-and-run driver, the state police can't help much because they are looking for an escaped convict.  I drew the immediate conclusion that the escaped convict was the hit-and-run driver.  Who else would it be?  Series books are so predictable.

I find the cover art to be lacking.  The author's name is obscured by the background colors.  The villain looks so strange wearing what appears to be a beret.  Rick's pose disturbs me.  His left leg doesn't look right to me.  Last, the Tractosaur, or robotic bulldozer, looks like a funky flying saucer hovering over the ground. 

The climax of the book, which is the scene depicted on the cover, is hilarious.  You could also say that the cover art is unintentionally hilarious.

This book had some lengthy scientific descriptions that were boring to me.  I skimmed through those passages.  Other than those scattered parts, I found the story to be very engaging, and I read the book rather quickly.

Rick Brant #6 Phantom Shark and #7 Smuggler's Reef

In Rick Brant #6, The Phantom Shark, Rick, Scotty, and Barby travel on a South Sea voyage with friends of the Brants.  The purpose of the voyage is to survey the ocean in order to find new fishing grounds.  The young people soon learn about the Phantom Shark, a man notorious for hunting pearls and killing anyone who gets in his way.  Rick and Scotty have reason to believe that they have come in contact with the Phantom Shark and that the mysterious stranger is responsible for damage to their boat.

This story has very little to do with science and is instead a mystery and adventure story.  I really enjoyed having Barby come along on the trip and feel that she added another dimension to the story.  This book is the type of adventure story that I really enjoy.  During the entire book, I felt suspense leading up to the ultimate confrontation between Rick and his friends and the Phantom Shark.  For that reason, I read the book pretty quickly, eager to see what would happen next.  I greatly enjoyed this book, and this is my favorite Rick Brant book so far.

In Rick Brant #7, Smugglers' Reef, Rick and Scotty help Jerry as he tracks a story for the newspaper.  Captain Tyler ran his ship aground at Smugglers' Reef, and he claims that he was drunk.  Rick is certain that Tyler is afraid of something and is taking the blame on purpose.  Rick and Scotty believe that Tyler found out about a smuggling operation, so they set out to get proof of their suspicions.

I like the opening line of the book.  " 'Adventure,' Rick Brant said, 'is kind of hard to define, because what may be adventure to one person may be commonplace to another.' "  It's the same with books.  I find that I often respond completely differently to books than how other people did.

On page 4, an electronic mind reader is mentioned.  This caught my eye since one of the later titles in the series is The Electronic Mind Reader.

This book also has very little science in it.

The plot of this book is slow.  By halfway through this book, I felt like the text had really begun to drag and that I was reading a story that seemed like it was 400 pages long rather than slightly more than 200.  The book basically consists of a very detailed investigation into the smuggling, and I felt like the story took too long to develop and way too much detail was given.

Since I was not overwhelmingly thrilled with this book, I sought out reviews online out of curiosity.  I noticed that one person stated that many have compared this book to Ken Holt.  Perhaps that is it.  The comparison was most likely made because Rick and Scotty are acting like reporters, which matches up with Ken and Sandy's roles in the Ken Holt books.  I instead thought about the excessive detail of this book and how it reminds me of Ken Holt, and that detail is what bothered me about the Ken Holt books.

As I continued to read, I grew more and more tired of the book.  It's not that the story was bad; it's that it went on and on so very slowly.  It was realistic how difficult it was for Rick and Scotty to get proof of the smuggling, but it didn't make for a very engaging book.

The plot was weak.  Rick and Scotty were sure that the Kelsos were smuggling, but they had no tangible evidence to support that belief.  I'd hate for someone to decide I'm guilty of a crime just because they see me getting something out of my car at 12 AM.  That's a lot like what happened in this book.

It took me longer to get through this book than it should have.  I couldn't read much at a time because it kept going on and on.  Finally, I finished it.  While the book is overall good and has some really good moments, the story is tiresome. 

Rick Brant Website Section and Related Thoughts

I was not planning to add a Rick Brant section to my website.  However, I decided to do it for two reasons.  First, I decided that I could do it with considerably less effort than it took to add the Three Investigators section this summer.  Rick Brant is a shorter series with fewer formats.  Second, I did it because many secondary series like Rick Brant are neglected on the internet.  There used to be an excellent Rick Brant site, but that site is now defunct.  The only way to view it is through the Internet Wayback Machine.  If you don't know how to find it, then you'll never see it. 

Rick Brant Science-Adventure Series

I do have a link to the defunct Rick Brant site down at the bottom of the page.  The section is complete as of right now except for some possible editing of my comments about the series on the main page of the section.  Additionally, I will be rewriting the summary of #24 from what was provided by the publisher.  I am currently reading #23, so I will get to the #24 summary sometime this week.

I created this section rather fast.  I already had the scans of the books, and I just needed to create the section.  I copied another section and changed the text for Rick Brant.  I created the entire section probably the fastest I have ever done, in just a couple of days.  The summaries were the hardest part, since I had to write them so that they were the length I needed to match the images. 

I do proofread by reading the text myself several times over.  Often, website owners get criticized by readers when typos slip through, and sometimes readers assume that everyone relies on a spell checker.  Not so.  While the HTML editor does underline possible typos in red, it won't let me know when I have typed a wrong word that is correctly spelled.  Those errors can only be spotted by reading the text over and over.  Many of them can slip by through repeated readings since the mind automatically reads the word as what was intended.

For instance, I finally noticed that I had typed "certainly" when I meant to type "certainty."  At a glance, the word looked like what I meant, but I finally spotted the one incorrect letter.  Elsewhere, I had typed "fisherman" instead of "fishermen" and kept reading it as "fishermen."  Finally, I realized that I needed to change one letter.  If I hadn't made that change, someone might have thought that I didn't know the difference between singular and plural.

I proofread the same way for this blog.  The blog editor does mark misspelled words, but it doesn't know when I have typed the wrong word spelled correctly.  Most of these posts get read six or more times by me before they get published.

Don't get too excited expecting for me to add more sections to my website.  I might, since I have now added two this year, but then again, I might not.  I can't promise anything, but if I do add another section, it will be done impulsively and fast.  I do feel more inclined to do so than I did this summer.  I really had to force myself to create the Three Investigators section, and it was grueling.  I had motivational issues, especially because I hadn't added a section in five years.  Doing Rick Brant was a breeze by comparison, but I'll just have to see how I feel after I start reading my next new series.

Rick Brant #4 100 Fathoms Under and #5 Whispering Box Mystery

In Rick Brant #4, 100 Fathoms Under, the Brants, Scotty, and the scientists travel to Hawaii on an expedition to explore a temple that is at the bottom of the ocean.  They will use their creation, the Submobile, for the exploration.  Rick quickly becomes suspicious of the captain of the ship, Turk, who alternates between friendly and sullen.  A strange Japanese man is found to be lurking near the ship, and Rick worries about sabotage.

This book has several derogatory terms including Jap, Nip, gooks, and yellow ape.  This isn't surprising since the book was published right after World War II.  The book also contains some very crude threats, including one where a man threatens to cut out another man's tongue.

Some of the banter between Chahda and Scotty gets on my nerves.  This is the sort of thing that occurs in boys' series that is not much to my liking.

I was temporarily bored a number of times during the descriptions of the Submobile and its parts as they worked on it.  I had to skim some of it.  I also found my mind wandering at times while I was reading the first half of the book.  The book doesn't get to the point until halfway through, when the Submobile is finally taken down underwater to the temple.  From that point on, the book is quite interesting.

The first half of the book is overall good although I was bored at times, and the second half is very good.

In Rick Brant #5, The Whispering Box Mystery, Rick is peeved because Hartson Brant and the scientists won't let him know about their current project.  Finally, Rick and Scotty are told a little bit about a whispering box used by villains to help them gain access to classified information.  The boys are sent to Washington, D.C. to help create a device to counter the effect of the whispering box . 

This book reads like a spy novel with lots of action and intrigue.  The reader is kept guessing at to what the villains' true motive is.  The book flows well and is interesting. I did find a few chase scenes to be a little long for my taste.  Towards the last few chapters, I grew tired of the story and was eager to finish.  That aside, I enjoyed this book.

Rick Brant #1 Rocket's Shadow, #2 Lost City, and #3 Sea Gold

In Rick Brant #1, The Rocket's Shadow, the scientists at Spindrift Island plan to launch a rocket to the moon.  If they are the first to do so, then they will win a $2 million dollar grant.  Rick soon suspects that someone on the island is sabotaging the project.

I like how the book is fast-paced and doesn't get hung up on minute details.  Yes, Ken Holt, I'm thinking about you.  Predictably, Rick and Scotty are captured, but it doesn't take forever for them to get free.  As in, Rick and Scotty get to the point much faster than Ken and Sandy usually do.

As expected, I didn't care that much about the rocket or certain parts of the plot.  However, I still enjoyed the story.  I like the setting of Spindrift Island and found this to be an enjoyable book.

In Rick Brant #2, The Lost City, Rick goes on an expedition to Tibet along with Scotty and two of the scientists.  The plan is to bounce a message from Spindrift Island to the moon and then down to Tibet.  Soon after Rick, Scotty, and the scientists depart, they realize that someone is trying to sabotage the mission.

On page 24, Scotty cleans his rifle and says "maybe I'll get a shot at a wild goat, or maybe a panda."  How times have changed.  Nowadays, a children's book wouldn't have a character talking about shooting a panda, since pandas are endangered.

I enjoyed this book more than I did the first book.  This book has less science, which helped.  The plot progresses nicely and is interesting. 

In Rick Brant #3, Sea Gold, Rick and Scotty take jobs at a plant that will harvest minerals from the ocean.  The fishermen from a nearby town are opposed to the plant, believing that it will harm fishing.  The plant has been plagued by problems, and it is apparent that someone is sabotaging it.

There was a bit too much science in this book for my taste.  I skimmed some of it, because I didn't understand it at all.  Towards the end, I understood how the electrodes would collect the metal since I have seen that in action, but the more technical aspects made no sense to me.

Some of the fight and chase scenes towards the end were a little too much as well.  Otherwise, I enjoyed the story.  The second half of the book is quite suspenseful and fast-paced.

Deciding What to Read Next

When I finished reading the Three Investigators German books in late September, I had to decide what to read next.  I spent approximately four months reading through the original series, the Crimebusters books, and the German books.  I was not at a loss as to what to read next, unlike when I finished reading through all of the Nancy Drew books.  I knew exactly what I would read next.

I first tackled some young adult novels,  I read the conclusion to Tracey Ward's two zombie apocalypse series, and then I read the follow-up book to Christine Kersey's Parallel Trilogy.  Finally, I read The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey, which I did not enjoy as much as I should have.  Parts of the plot of this series parallel some current world events a bit too much.  

After I finished The Infinite Sea, I still had two other young adult dystopian series that I needed to revisit so that I could read the recently released titles.  I always skim or reread the previous books in a series to refresh my memory before purchasing the new book.  I tried reading one book again and was not interested at all.  This was a book that I really enjoyed last year and had been looking forward to the conclusion, but I found that I didn't care at all.  I thought about trying another book that I read last year, but the idea of reading it was too unappealing.  I finally decided that now is not the time to read any additional young adult dystopian novels.  I don't have it in me.

I normally love these books, but I'm having trouble enjoying them right now.  The problem is that current world events are quite unsettling, and reading about the destruction of the world in a dystopian novel is not that enjoyable to me right now.  Furthermore, I have been under a bit of stress since the middle of summer.  Right now, I need to read books that serve as a complete escape from current events, which means that I need to stick to vintage series books.  Reading the Three Investigators series was a necessary escape, and I need something like that again.

As I've stated, I don't like boys' series books that much.  However, with very little thought, I knew exactly what I wanted to read.  I wanted to read some books that I hadn't read before, so I decided to read the Rick Brant series.  This decision was actually a bit bizarre since I have never had the slightest desire to read the Rick Brant books.

I had most of Rick Brant #1-21 on hand.  I started #1 and decided after a few chapters that I definitely wanted to move forward with reading Rick Brant regardless of how much I ended up liking the first book.  This was even more bizarre since I don't usually make such a rash decision, especially regarding a boys' series.  Inexplicably, I knew I wanted to read them and would enjoy them, despite how I normally feel about boys' series.

I purchased a few missing volumes to complete my run of #1-21.  Purchasing #22-24 was not a consideration, since I was not willing to pay $350 or more per book.  I quickly found PDF files of #22 and 23 online, so that gave me copies of all stories except for #24.  A few days later I was able to acquire a PDF of #24, so I had all of the books in some format.

After I finish Rick Brant, I will probably choose to read another series that I have never read before.  The top candidates are Biff Brewster and Cherry Ames since I own complete sets of both series.  When I tried reading Biff Brewster before, I only made it through the first book and half of the second book.  Since I am in the middle of reading boys' books, I might be more accepting of Biff Brewster this time.  I am also considering reading Ken Holt again to see how it compares to Rick Brant, and reading the Hardy Boys series again is still something I wish to accomplish in the next year.