The twelfth book in the Out of Time series, a series which I have been reading since 2014, doesn't hold back in the punches. After a fairly slow prior couple of books, Race Through Time opens with a bang, and continues with the appearance of "Charlie", the grown up daughter of Simon & Elizabeth, arriving from the future to quite literally save her parents, in more ways than one.
It was nice to see how the grown up Charlie changed the dynamic of her parents relationship and their attitude towards her. They have to treat her as an adult, which is quite a struggle, particularly for dependable Simon. It's also an adjustment for Charlotte, still a wide eyed youngster, with a humungous crush on Jack, who features a lot in this book.
This is an all round adventure book, bringing back characters from earlier books (who I'm disappointed to say that I could not remember, however, they may be more fresh if you have read the earlier books more recently than I have). Jack is most certainly back and not off on one of his own adventures for once. Simon & Elizabeth are still as much in love as ever (#relationshipgoals).
I second guessed the beginning chapter, and was wrong. But what happens in the beginning is the catalyst for the whole book, with ripples in time causing minor changes, thanks to the initial chapter. This leads our merry band of characters on a chase through time and various countries, to try and track down eight people who they need to protect the future.
At times, I wouldn't really say it was a "race" through time, since there doesn't appear to be any urgency to finding these people - who conveniently, aren't where you'd think they'd be and have gone off gallivanting through Nepal and into the Himalayas. There is a small period in the middle of the book, where the action takes a dip, and is quite slow paced. But it is nice to see a bit more of Charlie, and what she ultimately grows up to be.
Monique does go on quite a journey with this book, with various locations having been greatly researched, and I do hope we see Gerty again in a later book. There is inspiration taken from other places - keeping Charlie and Charlotte apart as much as possible is influenced by Back To The Future and there are touches of Mission Impossible and Entrapment towards the grand finale. We also get a sneak peek into what the future holds for the Crosses and I'm looking forward to see where they go from here.
It does seem that Monique hasn't managed to stick to the same timey wimey stuff that many authors would have done by now. Each location/time feels fresh and new, and not like we've been there and done that before. I do wish that Simon & Elizabeth hadn't been separated (not like that) for a big chunk of this book, as I do love their camaraderie, but I can understand the reasonings behind why they were apart.
Apart from the slight dip in the middle, and there being no sense of urgency, I still found that this was a good entry into the series, and having Charlie put a fresh spin on things. It's definitely a series that deserves a re-read from time to time, and is one of my favourite time travel series.