Everything is going to plan until Travers makes a few unexpected appearances, heightening the suspense along the way.Īlong with the mischievous plot, Gailey handles each character with care and respect despite the story’s brevity. The goal is to assemble a team to help force the wild hippos to migrate south opening up some fertile territory to exploit, but Houndstooth is simultaneously preparing a frosty dish of payback for a wrong done him in a previous life. The caper, or “operation” as Houndstooth insists, is a government job to destroy a gate along the Mississippi River where dangerous, feral hippos reside. Each of Gailey’s characters has their specialty: Hero has poison and explosives, Archie is the clever con artist, Adeila is the wildcard contract killer, and Cal is the gambling-obsessed connection that makes it possible to take down the equivalent of the Andy Garcia character in Ocean’s-in this case, Travers. Think Fast and Furious, but with hippos instead of cars or Ocean’s Eleven, if George Clooney and Brad Pitt were more than just friends. We are introduced to this world through the eyes of Winslow Remington Houndstooth as he finalizes the details for a “job” that will ultimately become a heist for his rag-tag team of ne’er-do-wells. Though it takes place in the swamps of Louisiana, River of Teeth features hippo-riding thieves and evil knife-wielding tycoons. Memorial Day family reunions and Fourth of July cookouts smell a little different in the version of America that Sarah Gailey has created in River of Teeth, the first book in a duology (followed by Taste of Marrow).įarming hippos for meat almost became an American industry, but for practical and safety reasons did not. Gailey explores an alternate history wherein that did indeed happen, and the result is an exciting take on the Western adventure story. Inside, flames lick at a foil tub of salmon seasoned with salt and fresh ground pepper, unshucked ears of corn - and sizzling hippopotamus patties stuffed with blue cheese.
A cloud of black smoke plumes into the air as the lid of a steel drum barbecue grill is lifted. Hands reach into overstuffed coolers, pulling beers and grape sodas through chunks of melting gas station ice. A golden disc of sun floats in the sky above the mostly unprotected skin of children splashing in the kiddie pool.
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