Thirteen-year-old Max is a daydreamer. It gets him into trouble at school, but his restless curiosity really turns problematic when he runs into a mysterious professor at his uncle's bookstore. The old man informs Max that time is being sucked out of the planet by invisible bandits, stolen from unsuspecting people one breath and one sneeze at a time, and is being stored in a central vault. Once full, the vault will fuel a hungry horde of invaders looking to cross into earth, and cross out all its people. What's more, the professor claims he knew Max's missing scientist father.

With the help of his best friends, Derek and Samantha, Max must harness his compulsive curiosity and find passage to this place called Nemesis to stop the sticky-fingered time thieves and halt their planned invasion. But when the professor goes missing and the clock starts ticking, Max discovers far more than he ever imagined.