The House on the Cliff

Infobox Book
name = The House on the Cliff
orig title =
translator =


author = Franklin W. Dixon
cover_artist =
country =
language =
series = The Hardy Boys
subject =
genre = Children's literature/Young adult literature
publisher = Grosset & Dunlap
release_date = June 1,1927
media_type =
pages = 192
size_weight =
isbn = ISBN 0-448-08902-5
preceded_by = The Tower Treasure
followed_by = The Secret of the Old Mill

The House On The Cliff is Volume 2 in the original The Hardy Boys book series published by Grosset & Dunlap. The book ranks 72nd on Publishers Weekly's All-Time Bestselling Children's Book List in the United States with 1,712,433 copies sold as of 2001. [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA186995.html] This book is one of the "Original 10", generally considered to be the best examples of the Hardy Boys, and Stratemeyer Syndicate, writing.

Plot summary

Fenton Hardy, the famous private detective and father of the Hardy Boys, asks his sons to help him with his latest case involving a criminal named Snattman and the illegal drug trade smuggling of stolen drugs. Hardy directs Frank and Joe to the house on the cliff, whose location near Barmet Bay offers an excellent vantage point to watch for smugglers. The Hardys are tricked into the house by cries for help, and are trapped for a short time in the attic. Meanwhile their telescope and motorcycles are damaged, possibly by the smugglers. On the way home they observe a man boating on Barmet Bay being chased by another motorboat. After his boat explodes in flames Biff and Joe swim out while Frank and Chet get a row boat to rescue the man. Once brought to shore and regained consciousness he said his name is Mr. Jones, which the Hardys believe to be a thinly disguised person. The next day both Mr. Hardy and Mr. Jones disappear. Frank and Joe seek out Mr. Hardy's informant at the dock maritime docks, Pretzel Pete, to see if he knows anything about the smugglers. Frank and Joe revisit the Shore Road area, and inside house not far from the house on the cliff, Frank sees Mr. Hardy's hat. With their friends Chet Morton, Biff Hooper and Tony Prito, they use a boat to search for a secret tunnel at the base of the cliff. Frank and Joe try to rescue Mr. Hardy but they are also captured at gunpoint. Chet and Tony go to the United States Coast Guard and find Biff Hooper, Jerry Gilroy, and Phil Cohen there and lead them to the smuggler's secret cave. It turns out that Mr. Jones was a spy working for the Coast Guard. At the end the Hardys escape into the house on the cliff, and capture Snattman while he is negotiating with police. Snattman apologizes and says he will turn the house on the cliff into a Boys Home.

Bloopers

On the front cover of the book it shows three boys in a boat, but in the book it says that there were four boys in the boat. The boys include Joe Hardy, Frank Hardy, Chet Morton and Biff Hooper.