River of Teeth

3.25 out of 5 stars – see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Around the turn of the 20th century, the United States toyed with the idea of importing hippos and settling them in the bayous of Louisiana. Such a move would provide an alternative source of meat for Americans, but it neglected the potentially dangerous side effects of introducing an animal with hippos' nasty disposition onto their shores. River of Teeth answers the “what-if” proposition of this great hippo resettlement...and things do not go well.

It's tough for the execution of this story to match how cool the concept is, but I'd say author Sarah Gailey does a commendable job. River of Teeth focuses on a rag-tag collection of adventurers tasked with ridding the coast of the feral hippo beasts. Each character we meet is unique and memorable, but not enough time is spent with any one of them to feel any sort of emotional connection to them upon their eventual demises. Luckily, this is a fun story that unfolds at a fast pace where nary a dull moment is found.