River of Teeth

Blurbs on this book describe it as "rowdy," "rollicking" and "preposterous fun." I think somebody read a different book. A story set in an alternate America where the Mississippi River has been dammed to create a swamp that accommodates herds of hippopotamuses brought in as an alternate food source should be all those things, but Gailey's first novel set in this world is a mundane adventure with forced comedy and unengaging action.

Turns out there really was a 19th century proposal to import African hippos to the American south as a solution to both a meat shortage and a means or eradicating an invasive Japanese hibiscus that was choking waterways. Much like this novel, that idea never gained much traction. Jon Mooallem's account of that episode is available on line at The Atavist https://magazine.atavist.com/american.... It is both better written and more entertaining than River of Teeth.