AhurricaneisbrewinginthejunglesoftheMaya,andtheancientDeathLordsareonthewarpath.AcrosstheworldinVenice,Italy,hangingoutwithhisbloggerfriendNasty(Anastasia)Smith-JonesandeatingPizzaGelato,MaxMurphythinksheissafefromtheirclutches.Butwhenarogueoctopuspullshimoffhisgondolaandtriestodraghimdowntotheunderworld,MaxrealizesthattheDeathLordsaren'tfinishedwithhimyet.SoonMaxisbackinCentralAmericaandreunitedwiththeonlyoneswhocanhelphiminhisbattle—Lola,themysteriousMayagirl,andthehowlermonkeysLord6-DogandLadyCoco.Onceagainit'suptothefourofthemtosavetheworldastheyfightoffmutantcavespiders,zombiewarriors,and,ofcourse,thetwelvevillainousDeathLords.Withthehurricaneabouttohitland,MaxandLolaembarkonaone-wayjourneytodangerdowntheblightedMonkeyRiver.Theytakeshelterinasubterraneanhotel,onlytostumbleuponDeathLordcentral.TornbetweenrescuingthemselvesandrescuingoneofthelastwildjaguarsoftheMonkeyRiverregion,MaxandLolafindthemselvesdrawnintoanevermorebizarreseriesoftests,culminatinginaterrifyingballgamethattheycanneverwin.TheRiverofNoReturnisfilledwiththesameoutrageoushumor,heart-stoppingaction,andfascinatingdetailsofMayaculturethatfansoftheJaguarStonesserieshavecometolove.ReaderswillbeontheedgeoftheirseatsassecretsabouttheirfavoritecharacterscometolightwhileMaxandLolatrytostoptheworldfromending...atleastfornow.