William Dobson - Fangs

[kooshmeister]

Got this one on the recommendation of a friend. I was not disappointed. A large (though not as big as on the cover) cobra is being shipped to England to be added to the zoo. However, there's a mixup thanks to the cost-cutting and inefficiency at one of the airports during the snake's journey; rather than a full and proper shipping label indicating where the thing is supposed to go, some bored, underpaid customs official just staples a little card to the side of the crate with the zoo's address on it, and with no mention of its contents, a really big, very ornery snake. Inside the crate, the snake waits. Upon actually arriving in London, the crate is placed among others in the wrong area (the card stapled to the side has long since fallen off due to the elements) and there it sits, while the guy working at the zoo who ordered the damn thing for his exhibit has no idea where his snake is and the people he calls at the airport are... less than helpful. They don't get paid enough to care.

The cobra gets its chance for freedom when some idiot driving a forklift accidentally drives into it. Klaus, is that you...?



The tines smash through the side of the crate, barely missing the snake, who doesn't take the opportunity to escape just yet. Eventually, someone figures out that this thing is to supposed to go somewhere, and, soon, the crate is loaded onto a truck and being taken to its destination. But then the truck is involved in an accident. As the truck driver gets out to have an argument with the driver of the other car (lawsuits are threatened), the truck's tailgate, knocked loose by the impact, falls open. Seizing its chance, the cobra manages to get out of the crate and then out of the back of the truck. Walking around to the rear of the vehicle to make sure his cargo is in one piece, the truck driver manages to catch a glimpse of the snake as it escapes down a drain. Because he figures he's in enough trouble already, he elects not to inform anyone about what he saw...

Meanwhile, the cobra makes its way to a high-end London hotel, where it begins preying on the guests. It doesn't eat them, but just bites them. The first victim is found almost right away, but the snake has already made itself scarce. The hotel doctor rules it a heart attack. Which makes sense. The guy was a bit on the old side. The next victim is not found for days because she hung out the "Do Not Disturb Sign." But the snake has made quite a home for itself in the hotel, and isn't going anywhere any time soon, and it won't be long before the hotel's management and staff can't ignore it, no matter how stubborn and skeptical there are...

Meanwhile, the guy that works at the zoo and ordered the frickin' snake in the first place is wondering where his dang cobra is. If it's gotten loose, it could be dangerous, so he arranges to have the news announce that the snake is missing, that it's very big and very dangerous. And who should hear about this than our friend the truck driver. Wracked by guilt, he decides to get himself involved, legal troubles be damned, and comes forward about how he saw the snake escape from his truck and go down a drain. Now the authorities have some idea of where in London the snake is... but can they track it down in time to save the people at the hotel?