Deprivation House

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Authors: Franklin W. Dixon

BOOK: Deprivation House
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ATAC ERIEFING FOR AGENTS FRANK AND JOE HARADY

MISSION:
To join the cast of a new reality show called
Deprivation House
—featuring a group of teens competing to see who can survive the longest without modern luxuries—and to determine who's behind the death threats received by other contestants.

LOCATION:
A huge villa in Beverly Hills, CA.

POTENTIAL VICTIMS:
All the contestants and crew of
the show.

SUSPECTS:
The show's million-dollar prize offers strong motivation to each contestant, and some members of the crew are hiding big secrets.

This mission requires your immediate attention.

This message will be erased in five seconds.

Watch out for our next case, Book Two in the Murder House Trilogy:

House Arrest

ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

Simon & Schuster, New York
Cover designed by Sammy Yuen Jr.
Character photograph copyright © 2008
  by Michael Frost; background photograph
  copyright © 2008 by PictureQuest
Ages 8–12
www.SimonSaysKids.com
0508

A reality show's wacky challenge goes very wrong ...

I kicked hard, my hands stretched out, groping for the bottom of the pool. Even now that I was down in the “water,” I couldn't see the bottom. My fingers brushed against something smooth. A plate. I snatched it up and felt for more. I found a glass next.

But plates should be easier to carry. With luck, I could get a stack of them before I had to surface for air. My lungs were already starting to burn a little. I did some more feeling around. Got another plate. Yeah!

Just a couple more, then air,
I told my lungs. I held my plates close to my body with one hand, and swept the other hand in a wide arc. I wanted to cover area fast. My forearm hit something. It wasn't as hard as a plate or a glass, though.

I moved my hand back and took another feel. Now I found a hard part. But small. Way too small. And surrounded by softness.

My lungs were on fire. But I had to see if I was right. I didn't want to be right.

I pulled myself closer to the thing at the bottom of the pool.

It was a body.

#1
Extreme Danger

#2
Running on Fumes

#3
Boardwalk Bust

#4
Thrill Ride

#5
Rocky Road

#6
Burned

#7
Operation: Survival

#8
Top Ten Ways to Die

#9
Martial Law

#10
Blown Away

#11
Hurricane Joe

#12
Trouble in Paradise

#13
The Mummy's Curse

#14
Hazed

#15
Death and Diamonds

#16
Bayport Buccaneers

#17
Murder at the Mall

#18
Pushed

#19
Foul Play

#20
Feeding Frenzy

#21
Comic Con Artist

#22
Deprivation House

Super Mystery #1:
Wanted

Super Mystery #2:
Kidnapped at the Casino

Available from Simon & Schuster

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2008 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERY STORIES and HARDY BOYS UNDER-COVER BROTHERS are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

ALADDIN PAPERBACKS and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Designed by Lisa Vega
The text of this book was set in Aldine 401 BT.

First Aladdin Paperbacks edition May 2008

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

eISBN-13: 978-1-4424-5348-7

Library of Congress Control Number 2008920164

ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-6170-3

ISBN-10: 1-4169-6170-4

Chapter 1: Avalanche!

Chapter 2: If You Win, You Lose

Chapter 3: To Living Through It

Chapter 4: The List

Chapter 5: No Siren

Chapter 6: That's Repulsive

Chapter 7: Hardy vs. Hardy

Chapter 8: Way Too Many Suspects

Chapter 9: Screaming House

Chapter 10:
No Joe

Chapter 11:
Chapter 160: Pounds of Rage

Chapter 12:
Pranks

Chapter 13:
That's Extreme

Chapter 14:
Mad as a Hatter

Chapter 15:
Loose Threads

Avalanche!

F
rank and I carefully picked our way through the cave. The walls glowed with ghostly green phosphorescence. The eerie light made my brother look like a stranger.

I consulted our map. It had taken four days to find someone who would allow us to make a copy with no questions asked. “I think we turn left up here,” I said. Frank nodded.

The ground began to quiver beneath our feet. The quiver became a rumble. I looked at Frank. I knew what he was thinking. I was thinking the same thing.

Avalanche!

Boulders the size of Volkswagens tumble around
us. I dove for the cave floor, but I still managed to get smacked by one. It stung, too. The things might have been made of painted Styrofoam, but they were still pretty humongous masses of painted Styrofoam.

I stayed low as the mining cars chugged by on the track. Once they rounded the bend—
slooowly
—the wires holding the “boulders” retracted, pulling them back up to the ceiling. Ready to terrify the next group of kids who dared to get on the Lost Dutchman's Mine Ride. Heh, heh, heh.

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