Jacqueline Harvey, Time’s Up (Kensy and Max #10), Penguin Random House Australia, May 2023, 400 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761043307
Time’s Up is the latest book in this highly successful series of junior fiction by Jacqueline Harvey. Kensy and Max Spencer are twins within a close-knit, caring family. However, with grandmother, Dame Cornelia Spencer as head of the international espionage agency Pharos, it is no surprise that this is a rather unusual family.
In this next exciting adventure for the resourceful and clever siblings, Kensy and Max are faced with a confounding and distressing dilemma, one which they will have to tackle without the assistance or guidance of family or senior members of the Pharos team. Beginning with the disappearance of one of their schoolteachers, followed by the abduction of their father, the situation quickly escalates. One-by-one, members of their immediate family, close friends, school staff and fellow Pharos agents become impossible to locate; all communication is lost.
Desperately concerned for the safety of those who have been kidnapped by an unknown and often masked assailant, Kensy and Max, along with the dedicated and loyal support of friends Curtis and Autumn, set out to unravel the mystery and to deliver those in need of rescue into safety. There are puzzling clues along the way and some identity confusion which confounds our young agents, but it is the sudden appearance of a small scarab token in numerous locations that is of the gravest concern. Could this mean that the abductions indicate there is a coup in place to overtake Pharos? And, if so, life as the Spencers know it will be forever changed. Something has to be done, immediately.
In Time’s Up, the focus is very much on the youngest Pharos agents who are no longer in training but fully capable of undertaking some challenging and complex operations. It is a tense time and emotionally charged as Kensy and Max, as well as Curtis and Autumn, must rely on each other as a well-organised team to find their much-loved family members and associates. This mission, even more than in previous adventures, puts their ability to negotiate, plan and ‘think outside the box’ to the test, and they come out shining.
Kensy and Max are great characters. I have joined in many of their escapades in their role as Pharos agents-in-training, so it is very fulfilling to see them as independent skilled agents, in their own right. As well as having a formidable physical presence and a thorough understanding of the complex technological tools of the spy trade, Kensy and Max are seasoned professionals with their heart in the right place.
Kensy and Max – Time’s Up introduces a couple of new characters who are aligned with Pharos so it will be interesting to see if they feature in future titles of the Kensy and Max series of books. Cleverly, Jacqueline Harvey continues to keep us in anticipation—what will happen next? Will it be possible to overcome the evil forces at play? And can the family stay focussed on their very special relationships amidst the dreadful dilemmas they continually face? Time will tell, but one thing is certain. Kensy and Max – Time’s Up, as with the other titles in this fabulous series, is a real page-turner.
Reviewed by Jennifer Mors
