Rolf Margenau

Master Gardener Rolf Margenau

This is a novel about unregulated development and use of genetically engineered seeds and the chemicals that enable their use. It's also about a group of septuagenarian eco-terrorists who plot to save the monarch butterfly. Features of Magic seeds found along the Amazon River bedevil BIG AG and drive the plot forward. Well-documented government ineptitude plays a supporting and amusing role. Sixty-five-year-old Wylie Cypher is a volunteer Master Gardener retired from a career as an international attorney. Elizabeth Pendleton Crangle ("Bitsy") writes a monthly newspaper column offering timely gardening advice that begins each chapter. Dick Geier, the ruthless, corrupt, and profane CEO of BIG AG, engages in corporate shenanigans that reflect current headlines. Master Gardener Anne Proctor discovered the magic seeds and faces ruin at the hands of BIG AG. Wylie tries to help Anne; Bitsy tries to save the monarch; Dick wants to make even more money and screw the competition; Emma, the Weimaraner, plays an important role throughout; and four couples look for love with varying degrees of success. It's an important topic that the author treats with insight, solid science, and sparkling, subversive satire. And it is, sadly, completely on topic today.