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Dan and Paul Chase are identical twins who find themselves in a mystery about a racket where “insurance” men demand businesses to take their protection or end up losing their businesses and their lives. The mystery starts after the teen boys, while on a date with their girlfriends, rescue a man from a burning building that the thugs set alight. Dan, an amateur photographer, gets them in worse trouble after he sells photos and the story of them saving the owner to the local newspaper. Paul is later attacked while home alone, and the gangsters threaten his girlfriend's family hardware store. The boys also learn that the new kid in town, Jake, is working with the bad guys.
Rockwood’s young adult mystery is a fast-paced tale of suspense and intrigue. The story takes place in 1948, and Rockwood does an excellent job creating the long-ago era with the setting of soda fountains, movie theaters that once aired cartoons before the feature presentation, bridge parties, and ‘40s slang. Dan and Paul are two likable main characters who resemble the Hardy Boys with a slightly more hard-boiled twist. They aren’t afraid to run into danger even when guns and blazing fires are involved. Readers gain inside knowledge on why Dan and Paul are so involved in fighting local crime: the boys were taught by their late father, who died in World War II, and their mother about right and wrong because of their own dark past. In the end, readers will enjoy the sly humor, the brotherly bond between Dan and Paul, and the clever plot.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review