I love the Hardy Boys, but...

I’ve always been an avid reader. As a kid I was a big fan of the Hardy Boys mysteries, reading nearly every book in the series. Frank and Joe solved crimes, rode motorcycles, flew planes, even had their own boat.

As I grew into my teens I still read the Hardy Boys, although by then it was more to laugh at the outdated language in the books than it was to lose myself in the predictable plot lines.

The brothers and their “chums” frequently tailed “swarthy” characters, who typically glanced about “furtively” before disappearing down dark alleyways.

Mostly it was fun, campy writin...