I need a short break from reviewing comics, so today, we’re reviewing a book. Yay, books!

Shotgun Sorceress by Lucy A. Snyder

You may remember a while back when I reviewed Lucy A. Snyder’s debut novel “Spellbent.” Well, she came out with a sequel, and as much as I enjoyed the first one, I figured I should definitely check out this followup.

The story picks up just after the end of the first novel. Jessie Shimmer has successfully rescued her lover Cooper from Hell after the worst week of her life, and come out of the experience with a magic eye, a hellfire arm, and a formerly cute ferret familiar that’s now a giant spider monster. All she wants to do is curl up and recuperate from her efforts, but first she has to make nice with the local wizard’s council in a nasty corner of the faerie realm.

And that’s the easy part of the story. After that, the vengeful alien gods of magic send her to Texas — specifically, a corner of the Lone Star State bled dry of magic and ruled by a monstrous but impossibly sexy soul harvester named Miko. Can Jessie beat the odds a second time and save her friends and an entire town from horrific evil? Or are her magically debased emotions going to see her spending eternity as Miko’s girltoy?

Snyder’s story here is a great deal darker than her previous one. Already stressed out after the first novel’s adventures, Jessie’s emotions are on a hair-trigger now, even considering Miko’s power to artificially exaggerate the emotions of humans. In fact, all our lead characters are on edge and snappish for most of the novel, with only Pal, Jessie’s familiar, on a fairly even keel.

Snyder’s character work here really knocks things home, with even minor characters given full and fascinating personalities. The mood and settings are great, too — from the beautiful but dangerous Faery to a cramped, besieged, and paranoid college campus to a makeshift pup tent in the backyard, all the settings make you feel like you’re right there watching the action. And there’s a ton of action, too — Jessie may be a spellcaster, but she spends a lot of her time beating people up, shooting zombies, and running to catch up with the bad guys.

If you loved “Spellbent” — and you better have, or else — you’re going to love “Shotgun Sorceress,” too. Go pick it up.