The Wrath of Cons

Rex Nihilo #3

by Robert Kroese

Interstellar con man Rex Nihilo and his long-suffering robot sidekick Sasha are back, and they're neck-deep in their most outrageous scam yet: selling black market planets!

Terraforming uninhabitable planets and selling them to criminals right under the nose of the repressive interstellar Malarchy is good work if you can get it, but there's a price: as the pair's profits soar, they find themselves on the run from... well, pretty much everybody. With the Malarchy breathing down their necks, the malevolent cult known as the Sp'ossels hot on their heels, and the Ursa Minor Mafia out for their cut, Rex and Sasha hop from planet to planet, with nothing but their wits and a motley crew of loyal friends to keep them alive.

But when their antics draw the attention of an ancient intelligence determined to wipe humanity from the galaxy, they put their moneymaking plans on hold--and team up with their biggest rival--to save the galaxy once again.

Genres: Humor, Science Fiction

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2018

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

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wrath of Cons: A Rex Nihilo Adventure
Starship Grifters, Book 3
By: Robert Kroese
Narrated by: J. D. Ledford

Boy, this book has a boat load of parodies! But once past that more normal Rex and Sasha action happens! This adventure has the gang dealing with planet terraforming bombs. This was great until an enemy wants to use the same bombs on already terraformed and civilized planets to kill off all life!
This has new characters and old favorites! Still hilarious and witty! The narration is excellent! I hope there is plenty more Rex and Sasha books to come!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

If dopey puns, obvious literary references and a (quasi-) lead character who seems drawn with a presidential pen happen to appeal to you, this is the book (and series) for you. All three appeal to me and I had so much fun reading this book (and the previous three, for a total of four) that I think I'll send the author a note and ask for more.

Seriously, this is great fun and funny stuff. It's easy, light reading that is guaranteed to take your mind off the events of the day.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still, a pretty funny series and this one robs from more plots than Shakespeare. Just love the puns.

[Robert Defrank · Rating 4 out of 5]

-as is Rex's ability to make a situation crazy in his search for truth, justice and a quick buck.

Rex Nihilo and his loyal but long-suffering android sidekick Sasha have had some insane adventures, but now that Rex is determined to help his friend overcome the thought-terminator that prevents her from achieving true sentient individuality...he get's sidetracked into a more get-rich-quick scams.

But this time, the con man who has outwitted, out lied and out-lucked arms dealers, predatory aliens, a melomaniacal cult and the most oppressive beaurocracy in the universe may have met his match, in another con man.

That's right, lucky reader: get ready for a knock-down, drag-out con-off between two of the most cunning wheeler-dealers the universe has ever seen!

I'd tell you to hide your wallets, but by now they're probably emptied without you knowing it.

Better buy the book now, just in case!

[Mary Catelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rex Nihilo book 3. Spoilers ahead for the earlier ones.

In fact, it opens in media res with the plot they started at the end of book 2. Sasha is selling donuts as a cover for bank robbery (drilling into the bank, with two robots from prior books) and not feeling passionately about the revenge she is seeking. Rex cheerfully explains that she's going to force the Malarchy to hand over money to buy something already legitimately theirs, which is exactly the sort of mild pain she wants.

Then they discover the plans they are after -- for terraforming planets-- have already been stolen.

It involves a robot Charlotte Bronte, jumping from buildings, Pepper's old debt to the Ursa Minor Mafia, a sort of sister to Sasha, a not so secret auction, memories, a wandering wormhole, what the lack of a thought arrester will do, and more.

[Angie Boyter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kroese continues the series at the same enjoyable level I apprecaited previously, so I will just repeat my comment: This latest entry in Robert Kroese’s Rex Nihilo series is full of humor arising out of absurd situations , outlandish characters, and Kroese’s ability to make me suspend my belief and just enjoy the romp.

Kroese's clever wit is REALLY impressive!

[Bruce Parrello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Hysterical Romp for Rex and Sasha!

As usual for a Rex Nihilo adventure, there are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. The charm of the books is the long-suffering robot narrator Sasha, who tries to be sane in an insane universe. There is a point near the beginning where you might worry you've picked up a spoof of Wizard of Oz, but don't worry: it doesn't last long and the plot explodes in all sorts of unexpected directions. Don't miss a moment of Sasha's glorious narration!

[Matthew Greenbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and enjoyable as always

This is another great Rex Nihilo book, probably the best so far since it builds so well upon the others. I really enjoyed the plot and the great cast of characters. Sasha's arc through the series is really wonderful. Can't wait to read more. And really all of Kroese's books are wonderful. I recommend every one I have read so far. Which is most of them at this point.

[Francis S. Poesy · Rating 5 out of 5]

You really can't miss with any of the Rex Nihilo adventures and the Wrath of Cons does not disappoint. A continuous merry-go-round of zany space adventures that end up all making sense by the final page. Add this to your TBR list of books, and all the Rex Nihilo adventures as well while you're at it.

[Shawn Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun

Incredible sci find fun. Humorous homages to past sci fi classic like Stainless $teel Rat and Deathworld. Poking fun of the Bronte sisters and classic philisophical tropes while layering on the witty one liners made it a joy to read.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Escapism Sci Fi

Entertaining mix of humor with a little bit of suspense. Quick read with few dull spots. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the adventure and appreciated the slight plot twists.

[Vitaliy Hristyuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and hilarious

Well, this is a violent potpourri of parodies on lot of books, authors, themes, and so on... And I like it. This book is a bunch of fun, and I recommend all series to everyone who likes a good laugh.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rex, the self-described "greatest conman in the galaxy" and his robotic guardian/partner in crime Sasha go toe-to-toe with the other greatest conman in the galaxy. Lot of action and a fun story, terrific stuff.

[Rosemary Desris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny.funny

I really loved reading this story , it was funny and different. I really liked your version of Alice in wonderland better then the original one

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun adventure with gang. Felt like it could have used a little more Rex zaniness.

[Phillip Murrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series

Sasha and Rex always bring great entertainment. This one was a bit darker, but I liked that about it. Do yourself a favor and read this series.

[Ian Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, some in-jokes about the Hugos felt a bit too niche, but the Oz parodies were funny, though I'm less happy about the thought restrictor being put back.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was by far the most absurd and imaginative adventure. It's also the one I underlined the most.

[Helen Viorel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an unhealthy obsession with Rex Nehilo. I loved this book.

[M. C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another wild and wacky ride with Rex and Sasha, but it also dragged in every other familiar character from the series, leaving it feeling a bit crowded and under-Rexed. The con vs. con plot worked well, but I wasn’t so entertained by the planet of the literary robots. The (second) Narrator was a nice twist, though not much in the spirit of the parody Star Wars universe of the previous volumes.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as good as the previous one I still enjoyed it. The Oz stuff was a little tiresome but I'm not a fan of the original let alone parodies. Mostly I like the characters and seeing that more books are coming next year I might have to look for them.

What I really want to do is write a fanfic where Sasha meets Robobot from Supermansion because I think they'd be a great couple.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrath of Cons wasn’t as good as the first two books in the series (I’m hoping Kroese keeps going) mostly because I didn’t like the plot as much. Rex and Sasha are as brilliant as ever. Being the third best of the the main trilogy still makes this funnier than anything I’ve read that’s been published in the last decade.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hilarious Rex Nihilo adventure!

I have greatly enjoyed this series of sci-fi parody of spoof adventures, which riffs on Star Wars, Star Trek, and other staples of sci-fi fandom. And it is actually funny, at least to me!

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scenes set on earth were a hilarious mashup, with a bitter potshot in the bargain. The rest of the book suffered from a lack of the Rex and Sasha focus that have made the previous books so funny.

[Becky L Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Another great addition to the Rex Nihilo series. Eagerly awaiting more.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was mostly fun to read but some of the humor was forced and didn’t quite land. Probably won’t read any more in the series.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun series

While the robot narration gets a little dry now and then, the jokes, puns and hijinx more than make up for it.

I frequently literally laugh out loud while reading.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many homages are there?

Wrath of Khan (obviously)
Wizard of Oz
The Eyre Affair
Dune

I'm sure there are others. Standing on the shoulders of Giants and all that.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fun with Rex, SASHA, and Pepper (though Pepper didn't have much to do in this story other than react to what the other characters were up to). In this story, Rex may have met his match with another con man named Pritchard. We have terraforming, blackmail, a Wandering Wormhole, and even a take on the Wizard of Oz. Not to mention the new characters! Kroese really packed this novel with as much as would fit. It's even a pretty short read. Still funny, too.

**I accidentally listened to this book again. Once I realized I had read it, I decided to continue since I enjoyed it last time and was about to begin the next book in the series.

[Al Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this is the book that this series jumped the shark. It was ok and I did listen all the way thru, if there is another one it is kinda ify that I'll bother.