River of Teeth

by Sarah Gailey

[Heather]

She had me at alternative history novella about feral hippos in the Mississippi River. I pre-ordered.

I didn't read it the first day it came out because I wanted to wait until I could read it in one sitting.

I wasn't disappointed.

There are feral hippos in a section of the Mississippi. They are penned in by a dam to the north and a large gate to the south. The lake in between in controlled by a criminal who runs the gambling boats. Having large predators in the lake around his establishments is an important natural asset. The government wants the hippos out of the way so they hire a former hippo rancher with a grudge.

Winslow Houndstooth, a pansexual man from England who rides an opinionated black hippo named Ruby, puts together a crew for the job.

Hero Shakleby- a nonbinary black person who is a demolition and poisoning expert. They ride a hippo named Abigail.
Regina Archambault (Archie) - a fat French conwoman who rides an albino hippo named Rosa. Rosa likes to get her teeth brushed and eats pastries even though the vet said she needs to cut back.
Cal Hotchkiss - He is a white man who burned down Winslow's ranch. Winslow is planning to kill him but it helps to have a white man around to buy explosives. His hippo is named Betsy
Adelia Reyes - A very pregnant assassin with two hippos named Stasia and Zahra.

I loved the world that is created here. This reads like a wild west story with hippos instead of horses. Of course, the job doesn't go as well as planned. The story is violent as fits the lawlessness of the time and place.

My only complaint about this story is that I wanted more. (That and I'm said about Ruby eating a dog named Petunia. Bad Ruby! Note that I am not particularly sad about all the people who get eaten by hippos in this book because I like dogs better than I like most people.) This is a novella that has a fairly abrupt ending. I want to know what happens. When do we get more?