So, I was browsing the transgender fantasy section of my local queer bookshop and happened across a book about killer hippos in Louisiana. Naturally, I bought it immediately and I have no regrets.

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey was, by all accounts, a mad and ridiculous book in which our heroes are tasked with clearing out the feral hippos from a section of the Mississippi. It’s a year long gig, but our man Winslow plans on getting it done in a weekend. Good for him. Absolutely nothing will go wrong.

No book is perfect and I did feel that there were points where characters were inconsistent and some things didn’t make a huge amount of sense, but sense was the last thing I was looking for when I picked up a book about murder hippopotami in the United States. The flirtation between the main character and his love interest was slightly too much for me, but to be fair was I chomping at the bit to see some hippos eat someone every time we were on a non hippo-eating-people scene.

This book was great fun. I read it in two sittings, which is lightning fast for me. There was action, there was murder, there was both hippo and non-hippo related mayhem. There was a fat Frenchwoman meteor hammering things from the back of a trained hippo. There was Ruby the Stealth Hippo. It was, most definitely, an operation and not a caper. I’ll be picking up the sequel for definite.

Recommended for anyone who is looking for a quick read filled with action, who appreciates that sometimes things in books can just be that way because it’s cool.