In this debut novel, acclaimed short-story author Tim Pratt delivers an exciting heroine with a hidden talentand a secret duty. Witty and suspenseful, here is a contemporary love song to the West that was won and the myths that shape us.As night manager of Santa Cruzs quirkiest coffeehouse, Marzi McCarty makes a mean espresso, but her first love is making comics. Her claim to fame: The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, a cowpunk neo-western yarn. Striding through an urban frontier peopled by Marzis wild imagination, Rangergirl doles out her own brand of justice. But lately Marzis imagination seems to be altering her reality. Shes seeing the world through Rangergirls eyesliterally--complete with her deadly nemesis, the Outlaw.It all started when Marzi opened a hidden door in the coffeehouse storage room. There, imprisoned among the supplies, she saw the face of something unknownand dangerous. And she unwittingly became its guard. But some primal darkness mustve escaped, because Marzi hasnt been the same since. And neither have her customers, who are acting downright apocalyptic.Now its up to Marzi to stop this supervillainous superforce thats swaggered its way into her world. For Marzi, its the showdown of her life. For Rangergirl, its just another day....From the Trade Paperback edition.