Wicked Plants,The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities



Winner of the 2010 American Horticultural Society Book Award, and a New York Times Bestseller!

Marlo has a wonderful rich voice, plenty of energy, and an occasional appropriate “gee, golly” note for the amazing historical stories relating to deadly plants.... If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking about a wonderful narrator, “I could listen to her read the dictionary,” here’s your chance. A.B. © AudioFile 2011

A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.

Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

Wicked Bugs, The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects



Coleen Marlo has a grip on the creepiness factor, taking on passages that make you cringe with a gleeful intensity in her voice that brings out the dark humor. Her deadpan delivery draws you in and lulls you into letting your guard down, only to sneak up and clobber you with details that will have you shivering with dreadful delight. D.G. © AudioFile 2011

Coleen Marlo handles the text with an encyclopedic accuracy, narrating swiftly through all manner of latin phylum, order, class, and species with the greatest of ease.... Audible Editor Reviews

In this darkly comical look at the sinister side of our relationship with the natural world, Stewart has tracked down over one hundred of our worst entomological foes---creatures that infest, infect, and generally wreak havoc on human affairs. From the world's most painful hornet, to the flies that transmit deadly diseases, to millipedes that stop traffic, to the Japanese beetles munching on your roses,
Wicked Bugs delves into the extraordinary powers of many-legged creatures.

With wit, style, and exacting research, Stewart has uncovered the most terrifying and titillating stories of bugs gone wild. It's an A to Z of insect enemies, interspersed with sections that explore bugs with kinky sex lives, creatures lurking in the cupboard, militant ants, and phobias that feed our (sometimes) irrational responses to bugs.