'' The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl '' is a 2005 novel by Tim Pratt . This is Pratt 's first full-length novel . '' Rangergirl '' takes place in the real world , but with supernatural and Western elements . Marzi McCarty is an art school dropout working at Santa Cruz coffeeshop Genius Loci . She draws a comic book called '' The Strange Adventures of '' '' Rangergirl '' , featuring the eponymous heroine fighting the evil Outlaw in a Weird West setting . College student Jonathan rents a room in Genius Loci in order to study the murals inside . They are the last works of Garamond Ray , an artist who disappeared during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . He is interested in a desert-themed mural in the storage room , which Marzi has sealed off as structurally unsound
Loma Prieta earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl