The Bookwyrm's Review of Six Gun Shuffle (Black Sun Book 2) by David Dixon

 

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RATING: 9/10

SYNOPSIS

Snake and the boss have made a lot of enemies, but up until their trip to Yaeger, they’ve never had any beef with Michael Ver, the galaxy’s most bankable popstar—mainly because they hadn’t met him before. After the boss teaches Ver a lesson about the difference between looking tough and being tough, he finds himself a minor viral video star and catches the eye of a gorgeous redhead named Kell.
Things are looking up.
That is, until Kell goes missing and the boss goes after her. After a shootout with Ver’s crew, things go from bad to worse—nobody can find Ver, and Snake and the boss are the prime suspects in his disappearance.

The next thing they know they’ve got a bounty on their heads and hardly a friend in sight. Carla and Kell are the only people they can count on, but has Kell been playing a different game all along? It’s a mixed-up tale of bounty hunters, crooked cops, popstars and… insurance agents?... in Six-Gun Shuffle.

REVIEW

After reading the first book in this series, I was excited to see where the author would take the next part of the story. I really liked the universe he'd created, and hoped he's expand on it, as well as continue expanding the character arcs. I have to say I was impressed with how he managed to do both.

The universe this story takes place in is an intriguing mix of settings, from grimy spaceports, starships in space, and cities on far flung worlds. It has a real Firefly feel to it, without being derivative. It's not so much a space western, but it's certainly got its seedy elements and you feel that a double cross is possible with any deal. Any universe where bounty hunters are an accepted as a necessity is certainly going to be rather more gritty and raw. 

The characters really shine throughout, in a gritty, kind of sleazy way. Down on their luck independent spacers, one missed load away from hitting rock bottom, you can easily see a Firefly vibe again, with a superficial resemblance to Captain Mal and Jayne, but this is purely superficial. Boss and Snake are polar opposites. Boss is always wanting to push for the next big score, whether it be a haul or a woman in a bar, and strikes out so much more that he succeeds, while Snake is much more go with the flow, and is definitely a ladies man, especially with women that Boss strikes out with. Not surprisingly, this is kind of a running joke throughout, as Snake always ends up going home with the women Boss tries for, until for once, the tables are turned, and Boss is the one who gets the girl, one who is way out of his league, and that's where the adventure kicks off, as Boss's fight with a pop star sends them on the run, and you are in doubt how they come out on the other side. The conclusion you just can't see coming, and it's a hard hitting rush to the very end.

This book is just such a fun ride, with a couple of rogues like Boss and Snake in over their heads time and again, and just barely succeed by the skin of their teeth. While you can feel the Firefly vibe I mentioned, you never feel like this is just some knockoff, but more Firefly adjacent. This will definitely appeal to a wide range of sci-fi fans, and I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.