Sunday, March 4, 2012

Bitten - Dan O'Brien, Author

 
Rich and Squidgy Chocolate Cake
(A O'Brien Special)
 
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup softened butter (or margarine)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 cups cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
 
Directions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 320°.
2. Cream the butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar.
3. Add the eggs a little at a time. If the mixture begins to curdle, simply mix a little flour into it.
4. Once all the egg has been folded into the mixture, add the flour about 1/2 cup at a time until the batter is smooth.
5. Place the cocoa and the remaining sugar into a separate bowl and pour 1/4 cup of boiling water into it. Stir until fully combined.
6. Add the cocoa paste to the cake batter and fold gently until combined.
7. Add a little of the milk and stir gently. Repeat until there is no milk left.
8. Pour batter into a greased cake pan, and bake for 1 hour or until a knife no longer comes out wet. (The mixture may still stick to the knife when it is done - but it should a have a fudgy appearance.)
Serve with cream.
 
 
Bitten – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and A Book and A Dish
 
“Agent Lauren Westlake.  Yes, I know about you Agent Westlake.  What are you an agent of I wonder?” posited the woman quizzically.  “Right.  So yeah, anyways.  About the creature?”  The woman folded her hands across her lap and sat back.  “There are many creatures in this world, Lauren of the Lake Tribes of the West.  My question is what are you an agent of?  We all represent something in this world.  What do you represent?”  Lauren looked at the woman strangely, feeling claustrophobic.  “I am an agent of the federal government,” she replied mechanically.  The woman was not convinced with the answer.  “That is to say you are an agent of a rock, Lauren of the Lake Tribes of the West.  Would you like me to read your life?”  “My life?  Lake Tribes of the West?  I thought you had information about the creature.”  “I have information on a great many things, Agent Westlake.  What information do you have for me?  Nothing in this life is free.  A cycle of reciprocity, surrounded and envelopes us, even if we do not see it.”  Lauren gripped the edge of the chair, lifting her body.  “I think there has been a misunderstanding.  I thought you had something to tell me…”  The woman waved the agent down with a quick movement of her hands.  “Let me begin then.  I am called Hecate.  I serve as the guide from this world.  Not the only guide mind you, but a guide nonetheless.  I am an agent of wisdom and of truth.  And you, daughter of the Lake Tribes of the West, what are you an agent of?”
 
Federal Agent Lauren Westlake had been in Locke, Minnesota for just a few days and she is now conversing with a another crazy woman.  The first was Madeline Leftwich who for years sat every night at the train station waiting on her mother to pick her up.  Now Madeline is dead and the particulars of her death are what keeps Lauren in her seat as she listens to the puzzling comments coming from Hecate.  Madeline, as well as another woman found at the lake, had both been murdered by what appears to be the same ‘person.’  Both were mutilated with patches of skin removed.  After catching a glimpse of what Lauren believes to be the murderer, she is convinced it isn’t a person she’s perusing but a monster of some type.  From what she saw, it’s large and it’s hairy.  Definitely not human.
 
Dominic McManus has had his own encounter with Hecate.  She has given him hope for the future.  She has ‘read his life’ and assured him that there will be someone coming that will help him.  But Dominic sees his time running out and needs help fast.  Could Lauren possibly be the one he’s been waiting on? 
 
While reading Bitten, I felt as if I was reading a possible script for one of the supernatural shows on television involving vampires and werewolves.  I also felt that it might even be a script for Criminal Minds.  This book would fit both.  The questions I kept asking myself as I read were – is this monster a werewolf?  - is Dominic the monster?  - could it really be just a crazy maniac?  And then I would tell myself – if this book were made into a movie I would spend more time hiding my face from the screen as a got the heck scared out of me.  Bitten is a true thriller!

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