A Scammer Darkly

Rex Nihilo #4

by Robert Kroese

Dive back into the chaotic universe of Robert Kroese’s Rex Nihilo series, where trouble is not just a possibility—it's a guarantee. Our irrepressible hero, Rex Nihilo, and his remarkably patient robot sidekick, Sasha, find themselves in hot water once again. This time, they're arrested for a murder they haven’t committed... yet.

Thanks to the overzealous Future Uncommitted Crimes Division, Rex and Sasha are roped into a wild to expose a second plot against Fanton Van Stry, the brilliant but bewildering CEO of the True2Life Android and Carpool Buddy Corporation. The plan? Go undercover among a group of android assassins plotting in the neon-lit streets of the planet Sydmede.

Packed with Kroese's trademark wit, "A Scammer Darkly" turns a simple undercover mission into a riot of missteps and misdeeds. As Rex and Sasha bumble through the investigation, they realize that nothing is what it seems, and the pair soon find themselves at the center of a confounding corporate conspiracy of cosmic proportions.

Will Rex manage to outsmart a future that's seemingly set in stone, or will his schemes spiral out of control? Crack open "A Scammer Darkly" for a side-splitting escapade that proves in space, no one can hear you scheme!


"Fiendishly clever." - Frederick Heimbach, author of Ronald Reagan's Brilliant Bullet


Praise for Starship Grifters

"My favorite read this year. A hilarious space adventure. Hard book to put down." ―Hugh Howey, author of Wool

"Starship Grifters... is not just the funniest SF novel I've read in decades, it may be the funniest I've read ever.... Funnier than Harry Harrison's Bill the Galactic Hero series, and [it] may even match Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker series." - Travis Corcoran, Prometheus Award-winning author of The Powers of the Earth

"Starship Grifters is one of the funniest things I’ve ever experienced. It is certainly the funniest book I’ve read." - N.R. LaPoint, author of Chalk

"Laugh-out loud funny. I loved every page of it. If you like sci-fi and laughter, this is the book for you!" - Rob Blackwell, author of The Forest of Forever

"This is a funny, funny book. It is loveably absurd and ridiculously extravagant." - Benjamin Espen

"Damn, I laughed.... This novel is funny, and should be approached only by those looking for a damn good reason to laugh." - John Daulton

"Funny SF is tricky. Funny SF that holds up over an entire novel is a rarity. The writing in this book is sharp, tight, and clever. I laughed out loud enough to lose track of tally or occurrence. In a word, this novel is SMART." - SFFAudio.com

"It’s kind of like Foucault’s Pendulum in space but without 500 pages of Italians discussing European history." - Castalia House

"Kroese is the premier writer of humorous genre fiction in the indie sphere." - J. Manfred Weichsel, author of Five Maidens on the Pentagram

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 30, 2024

About the author

Robert Kroese's sense of irony was honed growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan - home of the Amway Corporation and the Gerald R. Ford Museum, and the first city in the United States to fluoridate its water supply. In second grade, he wrote his first novel, the saga of Captain Bill and his spaceship Thee Eagle. This turned out to be the high point of his academic career. After barely graduating from Calvin College in 1992 with a philosophy degree, he was fired from a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he stumbled into software development. As this job required neither punctuality nor a sense of direction, he excelled at it. In 2009, he called upon his extensive knowledge of useless information and love of explosions to write his first novel, Mercury Falls. Since then, he has written 18 more books.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another welcome long-overdue comedic adventure for grifting spaceship captain Rex Nihilo and his robot sidekick Sasha. As you can tell from the title it borrows elements from PK Dick's books Do Robots Dream Of Electric Sheep, Minority Report, maybe Ubik and others. Rex is in trouble for supposedly to will be committing murder, scamming underworld characters, and there are android versions of various characters running around. Lots of funny jokes and painful puns. Very enjoyable.

[Onionboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, this author has a great sense of humor that has me literally laughing out loud many times. He embedded that humor in an incredibly complicated, twisted plot that I knew better than to try to follow too closely. I was just along for the humor, and it served me well in that regard.

In the same vein as "don't meet your heroes", I suggest you avoid finding out about the views of your favorite authors; It can be very disappointing. I learned that the twisted, convoluted logic he puts into his writing is apparently what also guides his politics. I try to not let that take away from the enjoyment of his books.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to see Kroese restarted the series. This initial effort started and ended slowly but the middle was up to his previous standards.

The bonus novella, The Yanthus Prime Job, was much better, but I could swear I’ve read it before.

Three and a half stars, rounded to four.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The PKD homages are fun - Minority Report, Total Recall, Blade Runner (others I may have missed) - but the time travel/alternate universe hook is just convoluted enough that despite Rex's insistence 'not to think about it to closely' it still distracts and detracts.

[Becky L Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

audiobook. love this series. has to be in my top 10 series of all time. if you like your sci fi served with a side of dry humor look no further than Rex Nihilo.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

by far the funniest book in this series.