Published: February 1992
Publisher: Archway Paperbacks (1992-2000)
Author: Unknown as of April 2025
Plot: Timber country---it's the perfect environment for murder
War In the Woods!
Crosscut, Oregon, is a town divided. Two rival lumber mills are in fierce competition, while the tension between pro- and anti-logging forces threatens to tear Crosscut apart. And when an explosion at one mill claims the life of it's owner, the police charge Callie Shaw's uncle, environmentalist Stan Shaw, with the murder!
Frank and Joe refuse to let Stan take the fall. But the land around Crosscut is cough country---and the men in it are even rougher. Before the boys can clear Stan's name, they'll have to clear a path through a dangerous world of chain saws and bulldozers, dynamite and double-barrelted shotguns!
Review:
I first got this book and read it in February 1999. I had to special order it in, and it was a first printing, so by 1999, it's clear that this book did not sell all that well. And February 1999 is the last time that I read the book, because I remember that I found the book was very dull and boring and could be as bad as #120 Survival of the Fittest sixty books later.
Of course in a way, this book kind of calls back to The Clue of the Screeching Owl from the Grosset & Dunlap series, since the book featured another uncle of Callie's.
The environmental theme seems timely as that was a big concern in the early '90s, as evidenced by the rise of cartoons like The Raccoons (I know it largely ran in the 1980s though) and Captain Planet and the Planeteers. There's an episode of MacGyver called "Log Jam" that had a similar theme, which also aired around this time. I haven't read Deadfall in a long time and I don't really remember much of it. I don't consider it to be bad but it wasn't really a stand out book either. This post does remind that I still have an ex-library copy of that book and I would like to upgrade it eventually.
I was reading one part early on in the book that was reminding me of this:
https://youtu.be/upsZZ2s3xv8?si=LUHBDADQSml0mZF1
So the book is a bit dated, since on pages 86-87 Callie finds a lighter that has the symbol for the army's paratroopers and "Saigon '72" and Frank starts talking about the Vietnam war, which in 1992 would have been only 20 years earlier, so anyone who would have been in their teens/20's and at Saigon in 1972, in the 90's would have been in their late-30's to 40's, whereas nowadays Vietnam vets would be in their late-60's to 70's and are starting to die off.
Callie's involvement in this book is interesting because it ties back to the early books in the series, when Bill McKay and those involved with Mega-Books and Simon & Schuster were trying to have Callie be the third member of the Hardy Boys team, and maybe bring the girls around to reading the series, since you had #8 See No Evil where Callie was the main focus, plus she appeared quite a bit in other Bayport-cantered stories. However, I guess they were having issues figuring out how to get Callie more involved. Had S&S allowed the writer's to age the characters (which I think Bill McKay did in the background, so in this book Frank, Joe and Callie are portrayed more in their mid-20's rather than high schoolers), I think we could have seen Frank and Callie married and Callie could have joined Frank and Joe on more of their cases outside of Bayport as Frank's wife. But not aging the characters I think hamstrung Bill McKay and the authors when it came to Callie. Nancy they could get away with in the SuperMystery'88 series because she was another detective from another city and if their investigations met, then that would make sense and not imply anything was going on between Nancy or Frank or Joe and Bess.
So I just finished the book. It wasn't as bad as I remembered it, but it was not the best. In one way it was reminding me of the possible Casefile Breakdown In Axeblade and Line of Fire with the environmental theme and the businesses. However, in the Nancy Drew Files Nancy had also dealt with environmentalists in Crosscurrents, which was also released in February 1992. So that seemed to be the environmental month back in 92.
Rating: 5/10
We learn Callie has an uncle that lives in Washington in this one.
We also see the Hardy Boys learning - they make sure to buy extra insurance on their rental car.
Quote from: NZone on April 27, 2025, 03:56:56 PMWe learn Callie has an uncle that lives in Washington in this one.
We also see the Hardy Boys learning - they make sure to buy extra insurance on their rental car.
I feel like The Hardy Boys (Along with Callie, of course) visit quite a few of her relatives in the Casefiles. One of her uncles in
Deadfall in Oregon, I believe she has another uncle in Vermont maybe (See
Pure Evil) and yet more relatives (cousins, I think) in Barbados in
The Dead Season. Callie's family is really spread out.
Quote from: MacGyver on April 27, 2025, 05:32:04 PMI feel like The Hardy Boys (Along with Callie, of course) visit quite a few of her relatives in the Casefiles. One of her uncles in Deadfall in Oregon, I believe she has another uncle in Vermont maybe (See Pure Evil) and yet more relatives (cousins, I think) in Barbados in The Dead Season. Callie's family is really spread out.
At least she's in the Casefiles! In the UB's and Adventures, she seemed to be treated like Tiffany or Debbie Gibson. She belonged to the 80's/90's and needed to be thrown out in the 2000's.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on April 28, 2025, 12:47:26 PMAt least she's in the Casefiles! In the UB's and Adventures, she seemed to be treated like Tiffany or Debbie Gibson. She belonged to the 80's/90's and needed to be thrown out in the 2000's.
I haven't read enough of those books to know but it's definitely a shame if Callie (and Iola, Chet, Biff, Tony, Phil and Jerry, for that matter) get underutilized in the UB and Adventures books.
Quote from: MacGyver on April 28, 2025, 04:08:36 PMI haven't read enough of those books to know but it's definitely a shame if Callie (and Iola, Chet, Biff, Tony, Phil and Jerry, for that matter) get underutilized in the UB and Adventures books.
Callie only appeared in UB #5
Rocky Road back in 2005. Since then she's been MIA. Iola and Chet have appeared in a few books (and in the
Secret Files they even gained a baby sister, Mimi). Jerry really hasn't been in the books since the 1930's and their 1950's/1960's rewrites. Tony and Phil, they might've appeared in
Rocky Road, but I don't recall.
And of course, Chief Collig and Con Riley appeared a few time in the UB's, but their last appearance was in like 2009/2010. The
Adventures introduced a pretty forgettable police chief.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on April 28, 2025, 05:37:54 PMCallie only appeared in UB #5 Rocky Road back in 2005. Since then she's been MIA. Iola and Chet have appeared in a few books (and in the Secret Files they even gained a baby sister, Mimi). Jerry really hasn't been in the books since the 1930's and their 1950's/1960's rewrites. Tony and Phil, they might've appeared in Rocky Road, but I don't recall.
And of course, Chief Collig and Con Riley appeared a few time in the UB's, but their last appearance was in like 2009/2010. The Adventures introduced a pretty forgettable police chief.
You're really making me want to finally read those Adventures books on my bookshelf. ;D
Quote from: MacGyver on April 28, 2025, 07:30:18 PMYou're really making me want to finally read those Adventures books on my bookshelf. ;D
I wouldn't recommend them. They are 2nd grade readers masquerading as 6th grade readers. And S&S setup a major story arc in book 1, similar to the Assassins in the Casefiles, but dropped it immediately.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on April 29, 2025, 06:46:13 AMI wouldn't recommend them. They are 2nd grade readers masquerading as 6th grade readers. And S&S setup a major story arc in book 1, similar to the Assassins in the Casefiles, but dropped it immediately.
Yeah, why did they do that? I loved book one, after that, it kind of went down from there.
Quote from: MysteryFan89 on April 29, 2025, 10:13:11 PMYeah, why did they do that? I loved book one, after that, it kind of went down from there.
I still haven't read books 24 & 25, since 23 was a very,very poor book. Was the author even sober?
That's why I'm finding the Casefiles and the Mystery Stories are better. Even at their worst, they are still better.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on April 30, 2025, 01:14:44 PMI still haven't read books 24 & 25, since 23 was a very,very poor book. Was the author even sober?
That's why I'm finding the Casefiles and the Mystery Stories are better. Even at their worst, they are still better.
I know! That book (23) was like 0/10. ::)
Quote from: tomswift2002 on April 29, 2025, 06:46:13 AMI wouldn't recommend them. They are 2nd grade readers masquerading as 6th grade readers. And S&S setup a major story arc in book 1, similar to the Assassins in the Casefiles, but dropped it immediately.
Thanks for the warning. Honestly, I will probably eventually read the first one or two and then probably wind up selling the whole set like I did with the UB books. Do The Hardy Boys curse and/or take God's Name in vain in these books like they did at times in the UB books?
Quote from: MacGyver on April 30, 2025, 08:50:57 PMThanks for the warning. Honestly, I will probably eventually read the first one or two and then probably wind up selling the whole set like I did with the UB books. Do The Hardy Boys curse and/or take God's Name in vain in these books like they did at times in the UB books?
I don't really recall because the books are pretty forgettable. If you look at the different reviews I made over the years i might've mentioned something about that.
But the Adventures are not as memorable as the "Casefiles" or the Mystery Stories, like for years with
Deadfall I kept remembering the role that pancakes played in the book! 😂
Quote from: MacGyver on April 30, 2025, 08:50:57 PMThanks for the warning. Honestly, I will probably eventually read the first one or two and then probably wind up selling the whole set like I did with the UB books. Do The Hardy Boys curse and/or take God's Name in vain in these books like they did at times in the UB books?
I vaguely remember hearing that one of the Adventures or Diaries books did, but I can't be certain. The only two books in the Adventures series I read were "The Madman of Blackbear Mountain" (Which I found to be enjoyable, though extremely cartoonish), and "The Disappearance" (Which was so garbage I couldn't finish it and slipped to the end. The book goes from a boring missing persons case to Frank and Joe having trouble catching an old lady tossing fruit at them.) Id honestly recommend not bothering with the series.
Thanks for the run-down on the Adventures series. It's a shame that The Hardy Boys books seem to have fallen so far in quality over the years since the end of the original Mystery Stories series. (I'm speaking of The Hardy Boys #1-190 here.)
In fact, if I were to select my core Hardy Boys series that I like the most- it would be The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories #1-190 (with #1-38 being the revised text versions) and The Hardy Boys Casefiles. (Included in that latter one would be other book series set in that universe, like The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ulthra Thrillers and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Supermystery series. I know The Nancy Drew Files and Tom Swift IV series would be set in that universe too but I'm not collecting and reading those too. It's just too much for me to keep up with if I were to start a huge Nancy Drew collection too and honestly, I just don't care too much for Tom Swift. But I have read some of both.)
I have some other books in my collection but I have wound up getting rid of some over the years. (Like the aforementioned Undercover Brothers series, which I sold as a set of mostly unread, brand new books a while back. I also had a set of the original text books [not original printings or anything though], which I also sold after reading a few- and particularly when I discovered racist slurs. I'm not saying that to attack anyone who enjoys them; I just decided that for me, I'd rather stick to the revised text books I grew up reading.)
Quote from: MacGyver on May 01, 2025, 07:14:31 PMwhich I also sold after reading a few- and particularly when I discovered racist slurs. I'm not saying that to attack anyone who enjoys them; I just decided that for me, I'd rather stick to the revised text books I grew up reading.)
I can't blame you, I found that an issue with a lot of older stuff. I love the original King Kong movie, but I can't help but cringe when the Skull Island Natives pop up and are in white guys in blackface.
Quote from: Bigfootman on May 02, 2025, 05:04:03 PMI can't blame you, I found that an issue with a lot of older stuff. I love the original King Kong movie, but I can't help but cringe when the Skull Island Natives pop up and are in white guys in blackface.
Yeah- stuff like that is definitely cringeworthy because it reveals attitudes of the time that viewed some groups of human beings as inferior in some way. Of course, this is not true because every human being is equally valuable, infinitely important, and eternally loved- and worthy of love and respect because all humans are made in the image of God. And I hate to see anyone demeaned. :(
So yeah- I can read older books and watch older movies and such and view them as a product of their time- but that doesn't mean I like such things or approve of them. And in the case of the original text books, I decided I can do without them.
Quote from: MacGyver on May 01, 2025, 07:14:31 PMThanks for the run-down on the Adventures series. It's a shame that The Hardy Boys books seem to have fallen so far in quality over the years since the end of the original Mystery Stories series. (I'm speaking of The Hardy Boys #1-190 here.)
In fact, if I were to select my core Hardy Boys series that I like the most- it would be The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories #1-190 (with #1-38 being the revised text versions) and The Hardy Boys Casefiles. (Included in that latter one would be other book series set in that universe, like The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ulthra Thrillers and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Supermystery series. I know The Nancy Drew Files and Tom Swift IV series would be set in that universe too but I'm not collecting and reading those too. It's just too much for me to keep up with if I were to start a huge Nancy Drew collection too and honestly, I just don't care too much for Tom Swift. But I have read some of both.)
I have some other books in my collection but I have wound up getting rid of some over the years. (Like the aforementioned Undercover Brothers series, which I sold as a set of mostly unread, brand new books a while back. I also had a set of the original text books [not original printings or anything though], which I also sold after reading a few- and particularly when I discovered racist slurs. I'm not saying that to attack anyone who enjoys them; I just decided that for me, I'd rather stick to the revised text books I grew up reading.)
How did the racist stuff even get allowed to be published, that's what I'm wondering. No censorship back than, I guess.
Quote from: MysteryFan89 on May 06, 2025, 02:32:32 PMHow did the racist stuff even get allowed to be published, that's what I'm wondering. No censorship back than, I guess.
The books were edited back then, however, just like Disney had in their 1932 Silly Symphony cartoon
Santa's Workshop featuring a black doll shouting "Mammie", in immitation of Al Jolson (who was Jewish) from the 1926 talking short
A Plantation Act and 1927 film
The Jazz Singer, they were using jokes and other things that were okay and acceptable back then, but now people get upset over how the world looked at different people and cultures back then.
But also in the 1950s and 1960s, the American culture looked at women differently than we do now. We are talking the era of
Leave it To Beaver & The Andy Griffith Show where a man was expected to go to work everyday and make a living that would comfortable provide for a wife and kids who stayed at home. And the books reflect that---and our society now seems to think that when women want to get married and be that Traditional Wife they must have been brainwashed or something.
Anyway this thread is getting away from
Deadfall.
https://www.newsweek.com/meet-women-quit-jobs-become-trade-wives-1797122
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Plantation_Act
Quote from: MysteryFan89 on May 06, 2025, 02:32:32 PMHow did the racist stuff even get allowed to be published, that's what I'm wondering. No censorship back than, I guess.
Unfortunately, it's reflective of how a lot of North American society thought at the time. When I read one of the original text books and saw Frank using the "N"- word, I was done. The context was him using a phrase with that word in it as a metaphor, though he could have easily used a different phrase that wasn't derogatory. It's one thing to read that word in
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, knowing that Mark Twain was having characters using common language of his time and actually speaking against racism (considering that Huck helps Jim escape slavery). It's quite different when one of the main heroes of the book is thoughtlessly using it. I got rid of the books after I saw that. I'll stick with the revised text books I grew up reading.