Books like The Phoenix Equation by Franklin W. Dixon

When Frank tries out for the basketball team, it's Joe's job to videotape the tryouts for the coach. But somebody takes the tape and steals the whole show! So what's Frank and Joe's game plan? First, send out a dog to sniff for clues. Second, put a gob of green goop in Chet's hair. Then eat lots of pizza. Dogs? Goop? Pizza? Sometimes detective work is even better than basketball.

Top-secret missions are always a risky business. When an ultra secret project takes Fenton Hardy to Massachusetts, the Hardy Boys come home one afternoon to find that kidnappers have taken their mother. The kidnappers demand to talk to Frank and Joe's father within twenty-four hours -- or the boys may never talk to their mother again! The key to the case is at Prometheus Computing, where Fenton is in charge of security. The company's latest product is a highly advanced computer chip sure to shape the future of artificial intelligence. But to protect the chip and their family, the Hardys will to rely on their natural intelligence and courage. They must find their father and infiltrate the DANGER ZONE before time runs out on their mother!

At first the stunts were fairly harmless--sneezing powder in the fog machine of a dance club--but now they've become more dangerous. When a historic Bayport mansion is torched, Frank and Joe are concerned. The clues lead them to a bizarre secret society . . . and their friend, Biff Hooper, is a member!

"The annual Computer Horizons convention has brought the Hardys to New Orleans. The trouble begins in a jazz club down on Bourbon Street. Together with their friend Vanessa, they run into Billy Barta, a local guy from the convention, and its' one encounter they'll never forget ... Billy asks Vanessa to dance, Joe gets jealous, then gets into a fight. The next day Joe gets arrested - for the murder of Billy Barta! Billy Barta was into some serious criminal computer action and Frank and Joe are about to face some serious southern heat!"--Cover.

The kidnapping of Frank Hardy's girlfriend at an antiterror convention in Washington, D.C., sends the brother sleuths running straight into a terrorist deathtrap.

The Hardy boys try to figure out how a copy of the new statewide test has turned up in Tony's book bag.

Terror to go A student exchange program brings Frank and Joe to sun-kissed Greece. But the moment they hit the scenic port of Piraeus, they land in deep trouble. What starts as a street fight soon escalates to a hornet's nest of espionage, kidnapping, and diplomatic double cross. Near Yugoslavia, the Hardys find themselves on a mission to rescue someone they don't know, for a cause they barely understand. Only one thing is certain - if the brother team fails this border run, they'll be ancient history.

When Frank and Joe's friend Phil, who works for a manufacturer of highly classified, high-tech military equipment, disappears, they are on the trail of what leads to be not only kidnapping but a massive threat to global security.

MISSION: To find out who is responsible for Bret Johnston's death, and save Galaxy X from another tragedy! LOCATION: Galaxy X, a new theme park in California. POTENTIAL VICTIMS: Any number of A-list celebs invited to the grand opening of the park. SUSPECTS: Tyrone McKenzie and his family seem to make enemies by the second. But is it a new enemy that wants to keep the park shut down? Or someone from the McKenzie family's past who has suddenly resurfaced...?

On the high wire of foreign affairs, one slip can lead to disaster! The Hardys and friend Callie Shaw are off to Washington, D.C. Callie finally has the chance to meet her Parisian pen pal, Madeleine Berot, whose parents have been assigned to the French embassy. But when Maddy is caught shoplifting, Frank and Joe suspect that there's something rotten in the state of French diplomacy. Determined to get to the bottom of the Madeleine Berot mystery, the Hardys find themselves caught in a web of international intrigue. They take of on a tingling chase through the nation's capital, pursuing a gang of continental con artists. In a case of D.C. deceit, it's up to Frank and Joe to nip the caper in the bud!

On the high wire of foreign affairs, one slip can lead to disaster! The Hardys and friend Callie Shaw are off to Washington, D.C. Callie finally has the chance to meet her Parisian pen pal, Madeleine Berot, whose parents have been assigned to the French embassy. But when Maddy is caught shoplifting, Frank and Joe suspect that there's something rotten in the state of French diplomacy. Determined to get to the bottom of the Madeleine Berot mystery, the Hardys find themselves caught in a web of international intrigue. They take of on a tingling chase through the nation's capital, pursuing a gang of continental con artists. In a case of D.C. deceit, it's up to Frank and Joe to nip the caper in the bud!

Hot crime adventure begins with the Hardy Boys--always a favorite with young readers. In their latest thrill, the Hardy Boys are attending the annual Wild West Week in the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, in the heart of the Black Hills. As usual Frank and Joe are smack in the middle of the fireworks--this time between the Sioux and a local land developer.

*Book 1 of Ring of Evil Series* "When danger's at the controls, the final destination can be terminal. A sophisticated ring of luggage thieves has put a choke on Eddings Air, threatening to ground the young airline for good. Working undercover as baggage handlers, the Hardys agree to scope out the airline's center of operation in Atlanta. But their welcome is less than cordial -- Frank and Joe discover that they too may be headed for a crash landing! From the complex of tunnels beneath the airport to the enigmatic pasts of the airline's employees, the boys are drawn into a labyrinth of sabotage and deceit. Picking up clues to a conspiracy extending far beyond a few missing suitcases, they begin to suspect that much more than the future of Eddings Air is at stake. A scheme is in place, a plot about to unfold, in which murder is only the beginning." (Hardy Boys Encyclopedia 1993)

Pro wrestler Sammy Rand, a.k.a 'The Kung Fu King' is on the ropes. Somebody wants him out of the ring for good. After a series of suspicious ringside accidents, Frank and Joe Hardy go undercover to find out who wants Sammy out of action. But the Hardys are out of their depth... their opponent isn't playing by the rules and in this game you have to weigh in big to survive. Can they tip the scales and get to the bottom of this case before it's too late for the 'Kung Fu King'?

Bayport High's newest soccer player, Carlos Capac, is nearly killed in an act of sabotage, which draws the Hardys into helping Carlos rescue his kidnapped father.

Frank and Joe travel to Mexico to search for hidden secrets at an archaeological dig. When ancient artifacts are stolen from the site, the boys search for clues but discover they must be careful--or they could be buried alive.

Studio sleuths When Frank and Joe visit a local movie and TV studio they stumble across a real-life drama - someone has murdered screenwriter Bennet Fairburn. To track the killer the brother detectives go undercover as gofers at the studio. From the start it's clear the Hardys have been cast as victims in a sinister plot. A series of deadly "accidents" stalk the brother team, and while shooting a TV series Frank and Joe find themselves on the wrong end of some lethal stunts. The clues they need are buried in the script, but unless they uncover the villain fast, the brothers Hardy will be show biz history.

FRANK AND JOE BATTLE SLIME AND CRIME...IN PRIME TIME! Maximum Challenge, TV's hottest game show, has come to Bayport, and the Hardys have put together a team to take on the champions. It's a battle of brute strength and brain power, and Frank and Joe are about to be tested to the max. Floyd "Rack" Rackham, their top opponent, hates to lose...and loves to slaughter his adversaries. But show biz gives way to the business of crime when Bayport is hit by a string of daredevil burglaries. Then the Hardys discover that each break-in required the exact skills possessed by a Maximum Challenge champ. For Frank and Joe, beating the burglars at their own game is the challenge of a lifetime -- which could turn into a fight to the death!

Sometimes even dead men can murder. Frank and Joe are investigating a series of gangland killings. Crime kingpin Josh Moran is dead and buried, but his murderous legacy lives on. In his will, he left $10 million to be divided among his enemies. The catch is that the money will be paid in three months -- to those who survive! The Hardys find themselves in a deadly race against time, for one of the beneficiaries of Moran's blood money is a former detective for the NYPD -- their own father, Fenton Hardy. Frank and Joe must unmask the triggerman before the dead man's hit list reaches into their own family!

Frank and Joe discover that working out in Bayport's new superspa can be hazardous to their health--one patron winds up in the hospital and another is found dead. The boys suspect that underworld thugs are involved--the kind of thugs who stop pumping iron to start spraying lead.

The Hardy Boys investigate sabotage at a Grand Prix race.

While studying at Oxford University for the summer, Frank and Joe Hardy discover the perils of international relations when their new friends, Soviet twins Pyotr and Petra Zigonev, are kidnapped to force their father, a Soviet peace negotiator, to sabotage a treaty.

A really cool book of baseball statistics was stolen from the school library--and it turns up in Frank's backpack! The Hardys know Frank is being framed, but finding the real thief and clearing Frank's name means standing up to the meanest, toughest bullies in school.

Danger pay Frank and Joe go undercover as apprentice stuntmen on a major movie. They've been asked to investigate a number of serious accidents that have delayed filming. Right from the first scene the action gets rough. Frank's stunt misfires, and the next one turns into a flaming disaster. The Hardys are certain it's deliberate sabotage. But the young detectives find the real drama is off the set when they become involved in a bizarre plot to steal a fortune. Unfortunately, they get themselves arrested! The brothers must break out of jail fast - or lose their only chance to be cleared of a million-dollar frame-up.

Frank and Joe must discover the connection between a college friend's kidnapping and an assassination attempt on an American diplomat based in the war-torn country of Gabiz.

Frank and Joe travel to Germany to work with archaeologist, Dr. Maxwell, as he searches for a jewel-encrusted shield in an ancient Roman fortress.

Brother detectives Frank and Joe find themselves on the basketball court and in the midst of a dangerous team initiation scheme in this thrilling Hardy Boys adventure. Joe and Frank are taken aback when Principal Gerther announces that they need more extracurriculars on their school transcript, and he’s signed them up for the basketball team. They think it’s odd because they both stink at basketball! But the Hardys soon find out that their principal isn’t acting out of concern for their college applications; he wants them to solve a dangerous mystery on the team. It turns out that a band of masked players are kidnapping new team members and then beating them up, blackmailing them, and threatening them—all in an effort to boost performance. Can the boys step up to the line and stop the shadiness?

The Hardy boys are at the eye of the storm, and they alone must find the answers before the Sea Spirit II plunges to the icy depths of the shark-infested sea.

Frank and Joe Hardy have been posing as extras on the set of the upcoming teen movie, Deathstalker. The star, an ingenue named Anya, has already had her trailer burn down, and now someone keeps sending her threatening texts! While the Undercover Brothers manage to keep Anya safe at a comic book convention, the threats just keep coming. Can they figure out who's behind the mayhem surrounding the filming of the hit comic book? Or is this movie going to wrap before filming even begins? The second book in this next exciting trilogy!