Wicked Bugs

The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army and Other Diabolical Insects

By: Amy Stewart

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Wicked Bugs is a fascinating mixture of history, science, murder, and intrigue that begins - but doesn't end - in your own backyard.

©2011 Amy Stewart (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Stewart amusingly but analytically profiles the baddest bugs around in quick but attention-grabbing snapshots of little creatures that pack a lot of punch." ( Booklist)

Not uninteresting yet hardly compelling

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. It would be better to get the book. Listening to short sections on different bugs one after another gets rather tiresome. The information however is not without value.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

it would have had to be a completely different book, not a compendium of different insects.

Did Wicked Bugs inspire you to do anything?

Yes, pay more attention to bugs.

Creepy, Crawly, Repetitive

Great idea, and it starts out with the interesting and unusual sex lives of various critters...stories about insects and other crawlies (Stewart uses the term "bug" in the loose common term rather than the scientific sense) are fascinating and more than a little creepy, especially when we get to the lifecycle of some of the human parasites and disease vectors.

My complaint is that each "bug's" narrative is interesting individually but the writing is a bit formulaic and after a while they all blurred together.

I liked Coleen Marlo's narration, she conveyed Stewart's sense of humor and interest in her subject.

Overall, I rated it at about 3 1/2 stars; I rounded up to 4.

A no fluff adventure into the creepy crawly

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! This is great for anyone that looks at the world with a "That's fascinating!" perspective. I'm looking forward to listening to more books by this author now.

What did you like best about this story?

It was a lot of fun to discover all the different insects and to better understand things I through I knew (I'm looking at you Brown Recluse). The insects, coupled with a story or two that highlights the creatures unique abilities was a great way to keep the curiosity flowing. It doesn't over complicate what is fundamentally interesting about the creatures and keeps things moving.

bunch of little articles

This is filled with lots of interesting and disturbing things about bugs. As I listen to it, I started getting itchy and stingy feelings. Insects are so different from us and live so different from us, it is like reading scary SCI Fi.

I think the book would have been better if she would have left out some bugs and spent more time with the more interesting bugs. This book is like a warm up band, it leaves you wanting more, unfortunately there is nothing to follow. The narrator sounds like she is speed reading, I don't know if that is her style or that is because of the way the book is written. Sometimes I got confused on when we had moved on to another bug or when we were going through the relatives of the last bug. Now I am going to look and see if there is an author who writes more in depth on the subject.

fascinating and creepy

This book was fascinating and well narrated. Lots of information on bugs and their habits and the diseases they carry. I started this book during a power outage due to severe thunderstorms. Quite creepy.

Tick, tick tick, like The Tell Tale Heart by Poe.

Would you consider the audio edition of Wicked Bugs to be better than the print version?

Easier to understand.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The ticking is the Death Watch Beetle that taps on the rafters looking for a mate.
The only character is the narrator and she is very good. She has a precise voice that is soothing and easily understood. That is what is needed for this book This book is a compenduim of many of the wicked bugs known and their habits. It is wonderful to listen to but you might not want to leave the house, much less travel too far. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Catchy Title - Watch Out!

This books title might throw you off base thinking, as I did, that you would get some historical information about Napoleon's army and the loss to the Russians. What you will get is approximately 10 minutes near the end of the book and that is it. Otherwise the book is a disease lovers delight giving information about the multitude of organisms, insects, protozoa and other disease bearing vectors. In a way it is interesting; yet, written like a text book listing the carrier by genus and species then detailing the: country of origin, disease and the havoc this particular disease causes humans. Other information includes details about cousins of the original offender and their blights - if any.

Interesting premise but I was disappointed

The title and reviews made this book sound more interesting than it turned out to be. I heard about it on NPR and so purchased it. I was hoping for more interesting stories about how insects have affected history or changed humanity, but it felt more like a dry recital of facts most of the time. I did not finish listening to the book as I grew bored with it.

Probably better as a real book.

Fun but bit hard to follow. This book is more of a reference than an audiobook.

Bad, Bad.

After the first sction, this is like having a dictionary read to you. It also seems repetative.