River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey, 114 pages.
In 1910 a bill was proposed that sought to fix America's meat shortage by importing hippopotamuses into the bayous of Louisiana, fixing an invasive plant problem at the same time. This extremely fun fact is the basis of Sarah Gailey's delightful novella, River of Teeth, which takes this idea and runs with it. Then again, I'm not sure there's any way to take the premise "hippopotamus cowboys" and make it not fun.
The novella follows Winslow Houndstooth and the team of ne'er-do-wells he gathers to fulfill a government contract to take care of the feral hippo problem. Said crew is extremely diverse and fun to watch. Every one is a character, and not just in the sense that they're in a book. The story reads somewhere between revenge tale and heist, with other elements thrown in to keep things exciting. This story is what I would describe as a romp, often with high-stakes and lots of adventure. I would absolutely recommend it.
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