Nemesis and the Vault of Lost Time

by Pj Davis

Overview

"...it's hard to prove the world's most important substance is missing when no one knows it's gone."

"Substance? What substance?" asks thirteen-year-old Max Kellerman. "Why time itself!" exclaims the strange professor who Max meets in the back of his uncle's bookstore. In fact, he says, time is being sucked out of every living person by invisible thieves and stored away in a deep, dark netherworld.

Could the professor possibly be right... or just plain crazy?

It depends on whether Max can unravel the mysterious clues in the tattered manuscript the professor leaves behind. With the help of his best friends Derek and Samantha, Max begins a quest to find this dark realm and to discover its hidden secrets. But with the time clock ticking and the professor gone missing, Max uncovers a truth he never thought possible.

Max must unravel the mysteries of Nemesis to save not just his world, but the very element of time itself.

An exciting novel for adventure-seeking middle grade readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798990031616
Publisher:	Philaments
Publication date:	03/17/2024
Pages:	202
Sales rank:	864,425
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.46(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

2024-04-25
For a seventh grader and his pals, saving humanity means braving an underworld teeming with perils in Davis’ debut middle-grade novel.

Unabashedly nerdy Max Kellerman’s home away from home is his uncle’s bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island. After an odd run-in with a professor there, he learns all about creatures who have long been stealing people’s time to gain a life force; once they’ve acquired enough time, they’ll use it to enter the humans’ realm and destroy Earth. The details are vague: All of that pilfered time is in “the Vault,” located in another realm called Nemesis. Max, with help from friends Derek and Sam, can upend the creatures’ apocalyptic plans by destroying said Vault. But Nemesis may also have information about Max’s father, a theoretical mathematician who went missing after an explosion at the Zurich university where he was working. After finding their way to the other world, the youngsters battle (and mostly flee from) an array of monsters with reptilian scales or “razor teeth” while steering clear of Nemesis’ much-feared ruler, Abaddon. Davis energizes this story with an unwavering pace; even early scenes of exposition suggest an urgency (Earth is in danger) and ominous threats, as when Max receives an unnerving phone call. Once in Nemesis, creatures pop up one after the other, from two-headed, dragonlike Narks to wereboars sporting “high-voltage tusks.” The author skillfully depicts these beings, along with various underworld spots like the alliterative Maze of Madness and Point of Paradox. It’s not all frights; food-obsessed Derek provides comic relief, while the trio’s amiable quasi-guide, Humphries, a slimy, six-armed, three-eyed Boggart, is a welcome contrast to the terrifying beasts. While this book could easily be a stand-alone adventure, Davis leaves room (and unanswered questions) for a sequel. Peacock’s bold-lined, comic book–style artwork merely hints at the monsters but aptly showcases the kids dodging falling debris or holding on tight to one of Humphries’ arms.

A swiftly paced and wildly delightful fantasy romp.

Kirkus Reviews