Customer Reviews:
Dull, dull and... more dull.......2001-11-15
This book is not especially hard to get into, but finishing it really is a challenge. The whole plot centres around a group of alien beings who crashed on Earth in the thirtienth century and now a wealthy Englishman is trying to revive them, even if it means starting a nuclear war. A solid enough plot. However, its just the way it's done that I dont like. The aliens feature in it at only two points both of which are relatively short. If it wasn't for those two brief sections of the story you wouldn't know the plot even involved aliens and at times it seems to run independently of them. It does feel very Bondian at some points, especially in the parts involving the Russians and the Americans. Not a bad novel, just incredibly boring.
Solid adventure without many frills.......2001-05-08
OPTION LOCK is a very visual book, perhaps one of the most visual Doctor Who books I've ever read. This means that there's a lot of dialogue, a lot of action and not a lot in the way of character introspection. We get a lot of information about what things physically look like, where they are in relation to each other and comparisons to other objects. The locations are vast and sprawling. We have a large James Bond type control room with giant view screens and computers with blinking lights. It comes complete with it's own Bondian villain with a silly twitch under his eye.
This visual flavour makes the story feel more like the book version of a multi-million-dollar film that's already been shot rather than an adventure that's written specifically for the book format. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing at times and to the author's credit, it's done very well here. The visual nature of the prose leaves the reader with several of the pivotal scenes etched into the mind. It has a very large and cinematic feel to it that can be quite enjoyable if one is in the mood for that. The plot is not actually overly complicated, yet the action moves forward fast enough to keep things enjoyable.
In short, this is a fairly good, fast-paced, solid action-adventure. It's quite entertaining and if you're looking for something that's light but not at all bad, this is probably one of the early BBC books that you should look into.
OH, PLEASE... NOT AGAIN.......2001-04-17
A better title for OPTION LOCK might be - DOCTOR WHO, OR HOW I STOPPED WORRYING ABOUT THE BOMB AND LEARNED TO LOVE SAM IN A WET T-SHIRT... and yes, the wet t-shirt does make it into this novel, and it's just as odd and misplaced as pretty much everything else found between the pages. OPTION LOCK, the Eighth 8th Doctor adventure, is an odd mix - just by reading it you can tell that nearly all of this book must have been written and submitted by Justin Richards to other publishing houses and rejected. It's a gripping tale of US nuclear policy and a secret space defense platform known as STATION NINE - with this in hand, he hammers in the Doctor and Sam, steals BIG from the Third Doctor's adventure - THE DAEMONS (almost all the plot and feel from that adventure is in OPTION LOCK - if the BBC didn't own it, and this wasn't a DOCTOR WHO novel... they would have sued), plus adds in the Fifth Doctor's THE AWAKENING - and hopes for the best. But it dosen't work - Sam and the Doctor are hardly in this novel, and even when they are, they are reduced to playing roles that just outright bore you and make you cringe (see said passage about the wet t-shirt). Sam still is one of the worst WHO companions - and I think I finally have found the reason why, and it's this: she has no skills. None. Other than biting her fingernails, hiding, and still making eyes at the Doctor - she does nothing. At least with other companions, they had a talent - Ace could fashion explosives (and she could fight), Susan was a Time Lord, Viki was a mental giant, and on and on and on... the only companions Sam might feel at home with are Mel (who never got an introduction in the series proper) and Dodo (who never got an exit - she just disappears about two episodes into THE WAR MACHINES and is never seen again) - but they are rare cases. Overall, this book is just plain dull and offers nothing new to the DOCTOR WHO universe. But, they are becoming harder to find... so if you're a collector, I recommand picking one up to make the set - but as for entertainment, you're better of either writing your own - or watching the series on tape.
Doctor Who meets Tom Clancy.......2000-02-26
I love Doctor Who novels. I love modern military and espionage novels. But I love the two genres for very different reasons, and they just don't mesh together well. It's an entertaining enough read, I suppose, but the book just doesn't seem to hang together very well and there are WAY too many false climaxes.
Do you fancy starting a nuclear war?.......2000-01-01
This book was hard to get through at times. The Doctor and Sam are forced to land the Tardis on Earth in the 21st century. They find themselves on a manor estate and get caught up in the sinister machinations of the "Lord of the Manor".
Frankly, although I like James Bond, the middle section of this book was boring to me. I kept thinking of stories like "Independence Day" where the suspence was kept to the breaking point without bogging down the story. If this is all accurate (and I suspect it is), I know more about the responses of the US Government to a nuclear strike than I ever wanted to. I suppose all that detail was necessary to the plot to explane why the LOTM was doing what he was doing. But, oh it was boring! Not enough Doctor in it.
That's another thing - the character of the Doctor was wrong. I can see a trend here - the authors of some of these books seem to see Sam as an Ace-wannabe that is growing into a Mad Max kind of woman. Strong, tough but can still be female and break down in tears. Humm - maybe, but it isn't quite right yet. Not a book I'll be likely to read again.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Doors and Hardware, published by Door and Hardware Institute on July 1, 1993. The length of the article is 764 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The cardkey option: when you care enough to use the very best. (cardkey options for the smaller hotel)
Author: Robert F. Fogarty
Publication:
Doors and Hardware (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 1993
Publisher: Door and Hardware Institute
Volume: v57
Issue: n7
Page: p42(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Real Estate Weekly, published by Thomson Gale on April 4, 2007. The length of the article is 593 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Co-ops plan ahead with early rate lock option.(Banking & Finance)
Author: Edward, III Howe
Publication:
Real Estate Weekly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 4, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 53
Issue: 34
Page: 11S(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Automatic Merchandiser, published by Cygnus Business Media on February 1, 2004. The length of the article is 3200 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Electronic locks become a more popular option in the war against trade loss: besides limiting exposure to both internal and external burglary, vending operators are finding that electronic locks can help improve customer relations and provide for more efficient routing.(Special Report)
Author: Elliot Maras
Publication:
Automatic Merchandiser (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2004
Publisher: Cygnus Business Media
Volume: 46
Issue: 2
Page: 46(5)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Property Management, published by Institute of Real Estate Management on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 520 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Eyes on the prize: new technology options improve access monitoring and control.(Neo Tech)
Author: Scott Morey
Publication:
Journal of Property Management (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: Institute of Real Estate Management
Volume: 69
Issue: 3
Page: 16(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
|
Option Lock
Manufacturer: Bbc Book Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GRR08M |
Amazon.com
Cake mixes are undoubtedly convenient, but do they produce good cakes? They can, says Anne Byrn, author of The Cake Mix Doctor, if you know how to tweak them. Doing this involves the addition of ingredients to enrich the mixes and flavorings to enhance and, in some cases, conceal questionable tastes. To prove her point, Byrn offers more than 175 recipes for mix-based cakes and other desserts, including formulas for frostings that, Byrn maintains, must be made from scratch. The results are convincing; readers interested in satisfying, dependable desserts prepared quickly and with little fuss should welcome the book.
Beginning with a useful discussion of cake mixes, their history and composition, and an outline of the mix-transformation battle plan, the book then presents the recipes in chapters such as "Chocolate Cakes," "Cake-Mix Classics," "Special Occasion Cakes," and "Incredible Bars and Comforting Cookies." Among the most successful offerings are Deeply Chocolate Almond Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, Banana Cake with Quick Caramel Frosting, and Lemon Buttermilk Poppy Seed Cake. A chapter devoted to crumbles, crisps, cobblers, trifles, and even a dessert pizza shows how to use the mixes in innovative ways, and "Lighter Cakes" presents "healthier" offerings, such as Pear and Toasted Pecan Buttermilk Cake. With sidebars such as The Legendary Pillsbury Bake-Off and tips for success throughout ("Cinnamon is one of the great tools to use when doctoring up cake mixes," begins one), the book explores every aspect of cake-mix fixing while revealing the unexpected richness that the process can yield. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
The Cake Mix Doctor is in! And the prescription is simple: By doctoring up packaged cake mix with just the right extras--a touch of sweet butter here, cocoa powder there, or poppy seeds, vanilla yogurt, sherry, eggs, and grated lemon zest for the Charleston Poppy Seed Cake--even the least experienced baker can turn out luscious signature desserts, time after time. The proof is in the taste, and the taste never stops--from Toasted Coconut Sour Cream Cake to Devilishly Good Chocolate Cake; from a to-die-for Caramel Cake and a Holiday Yule Log to cheesecakes, coffee cakes, sheet cakes, pound cakes, bars, brownies, and those all-important frostings, here are 175 fast, foolproof recipes that will transform the art of home baking in America.
Who could believe these cakes came out of a box? Moist, tender, rich, deep, and complexly flavored, without a hint of artificiality, each cake stand up and delivers. But without any of the fuss of baking from scratch. Anne Byrn, an award-wining food writer and self-described purist, creates recipes that employ a cake mix's strengths---convenience, ease-of-use, dependability, and almost imperviousness to overbeating, underbeating, overbaking, and underbaking.
In addition to the recipes are the Cake Mix Doctor's Q&A's, extensive "Doctor Says" tips, lists--15 Beautiful Birthday Cakes, 15 Cakes That Will Cash in at a Bake Sale--and more, all illustrated in a full-color photographic insert.
Customer Reviews:
Makes baking a breeze!.......2007-10-04
I love, love, love this book! I bought it as a joke to myself after three "from scratch" cakes in a row came out terrible. This book makes it so easy to make original, delicious cakes by using a cake mix and a few additional ingredients. The frosting resipes supplied in the book are delicious as well. I had been looking for a good chocolate frosting recipe for awhile, and the Fluffy Chocolate Frosting recipe in the back of the book is wonderful.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to bake.
Wonderful recipe book. A must for anyone who likes to bake.......2007-09-26
I bought this book when it came out several years ago and it has been used so many times. One of my favorite cakes is the Darn Good Chocolate cake. It's fantastic.
I also met Anne when she came to the University she graduated from to give a lecture. She's a delightful lady and I genuinely enjoyed meeting her.
My most recommended cookbook.......2007-09-21
This is probably the best-used cookbook on my shelf. I like to bake from scratch, but sometimes you just need something quick to take with you to work, to a pot luck, etc. and this book is full of great ideas. Some people still look down on "box cake" but don't believe the negative reviews. These recipes counteract that artificial "cake mix taste" with rich ingredients and delicious homemade frostings.
I am always recommending this cookbook, and sharing recipes from it. My favorites are the Perfect Chocolate Cake, Incredible Melted Ice Cream Cake, Susan's Lemon Cake and Fiddler On The Roof cake. There are a number of really excellent frosting recipes in this book too, which I use all the time now instead of tub frosting.
While probably not for baking "purists", this book is a great source of quick, easy and delicious recipes that anyone can make with great results. It will make even a beginner feel like a master cake-baker ... end experienced bakers will probably get a few ideas of their own just reading it!
Try the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor too!
As phony as the photoshop cake..........2007-09-05
Seriously, take a look at the cover and you'll notice that there is a thick layer of "icing" between the cake and the plate, an obvious fake. That cover photo is pretty indicative of every recipe in the book, which are all versions of "take a cake mix- add some more faux ingredients, like, perhaps, a can of tomato soup, and call it homemade". The results are chemical-tasting fluffy rubber cakes that have become the norm of the industrial age. It's so sad that most " cake ladies", even the ones with fancy websites are not doing any authentic baking anymore.
If you want to bake for your family, try "The Weekend Baker" which gives good strategies for a home cook to produce excellent baked goods.
yum!.......2007-09-04
This is the book that I grab when it's someone's birthday. I haven't had anything from it that was bad and I have made quite a few of these cakes. This book also has lots of recipes for frosting. I never buy canned frosting anymore, it's too easy to make a homemade frosting or glaze-and there are lots of flavors of these in this book also.
Book Description
The cupcake is America’s darling. It’s celebrated in upscale bakeries, on
Sex in the City, on the cover of
Gourmet, and in thou-sands of classrooms—where every day, it seems, a parent has sent in a batch for the kids to share. The very word conjures up whimsy, coziness, pleasure, nostalgia. Not to mention the fact that their diminutive size means you can eat a lot of them.
Once upon a time, a family had only two recipes for cupcakes—chocolate and vanilla. Not anymore. Now Anne Byrn brings them to the next level. And who better? Recognized as the master of cake-mix baking, Anne is the author of
The Cake Mix Doctor and
Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor, which have a total of over 1.8 million copies in print. In
Cupcakes she offers 135 tempting recipes for children and grown-ups, for special days and everyday, lunch bags, holiday festivities, and an unexpected dinner party dessert.
You’ll never believe these artful little cakes started with a mix. Coconut Snowballs, Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes, Kiss Me Cakes, Warm Chocolate Cupcakes with Molten Centers, Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting. There are surprising additions (tuck a chocolate kiss orpiece of cookie dough into the batter). Creative toppings and easy from-scratch frostings (whipped cream spiked with Kahlua; miniature M&Ms; a creamy malted frosting with crushed malted milk balls).Terrific decorating ideas, from glittering golden dragees or elegant chocolate curls to yellow peeps for an Easter cupcake or—for Groundhog’s Day—a groundhog’s face made out of chocolate frosting and jimmies. Includes a 16-page full-color opening essay.
Customer Reviews:
great cakes.......2007-09-29
I bought this Cake Doctor book as a gift for I have used mine, many times to bake some great cakes and wanted to share the book.
If you like the Cake Doctor, you'll like this.......2007-09-04
I wish this book had more pictures of the finished cupcakes, but it is still a good cookbook. This will give you different cupcakes to make or inspire you to try your own ideas. So far everything I've tried in this book is delicious.
If you bake cupcakes - you NEED this book!.......2007-07-21
I bake cupcakes "all" the time! and I use the recipes in this book - with fantastic results! My family and friends rave about the taste of the cupcakes and because of Anne's recipes I am seen as a great baker (and I love that!). You start with a basic cake mix (stock up when they are on sale) - and add ingredients to make it unique and more flavorful. The ideas are creative and unique - and sometimes old favorites. Did I say that I love this book!? I have also found that when using Anne's "formula" I can successfully create my own recipes when adapting "from scratch" recipes. Thank you Anne!
love this series of books.......2007-07-07
This book has some great ideas and they are all easy and doable! Enjoy!
I LOVE this cookbook.......2007-06-05
This is a wonderful cook book with amazing recipes that take a short amount of time, but look like you were up all night baking. I've made the Oreo Cupcakes, Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Cupcakes with a Hershey's Kiss in the middle, Red Velvet Cupcakes, and the Cookie Dough Cupcakes! I now look for excuses to bake cupcakes and people are talking about my cupcakes MONTHS after trying them. Every single recipe I've tried has been a huge crowd pleaser.
I'm shocked there are negative reviews - yes, there could be more pictures, but I the recipes are so easy to follow; it's not a problem at all. I'm shocked that some people had trouble following the recipes, I thought the recipes were so easy to follow!
This cookbook is the best! You will not regret buying it!
Amazon.com
Ann Byrn is on to something. Her first book, The Cake Mix Doctor, showed readers how to tweak store-bought cake mixes to produce "like-homemade" treats. The sequel, Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor repeats Byrn's foolproof approach, focusing solely on chocolate. The strategy? Begin with commercial mixes like chocolate cake, devil's food, and chocolate brownie; alter them with ingredients that add flavor, such as cocoa powder, or richness and moistness, like sour cream; use homemade frostings (supermarket versions won't cut it); and you're in business. "My mission," says Byrn, "is to help busy cooks find the time to bake even when company is not coming." If her sweets lack true homemade quality, they nonetheless produce entirely creditable desserts most bakers, and those they feed, will applaud.
Beginning with a blueprint for mix-doctoring success, which includes information on pantry essentials and a useful chocolate primer, the book then presents over 150 easy recipes for a full range of chocolate layer, pound, sheet, angel food, and chiffon cakes, as well as muffins, cookies, brownies, and more. Among these, readers will surely want to try Triple Decker Raspberry Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Peach Cake, Frozen Chocolate Neapolitan Cake, and Jessica's Caramel Chocolate Brownies. Besides more basic finishes, the frosting chapter offers recipes for the likes of Crushed Peppermint Buttercream Frosting. An introductory section presents color photos of all the cakes; Byrn also supplies interesting technical information, lore (Nuggets of Chocolate History, for one), and a chocolate cake glossary all bakers can use. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
The Cake Mix Doctor goes chocolate! Anne Byrn brings her proven prescription for doctoring cake mix to an ingredient that inspires love bordering on obsession.
It's a marriage made in baker's heaven-150 all-new, all-easy recipes for cakes, starring the ingredient that surpasses all other flavors, including vanilla, by a 3-to-1 margin, and that Americans consume to the tune of 2.8 billion pounds a year. Starting with versatile supermarket cake mixes and adding just the right extras-including melted semisweet chocolate bars, chocolate chips, or cocoa powder, plus fresh eggs or a bit of buttermilk, dried coconut, mashed bananas, or instant coffee powder-a baker at any level of experience can turn out dark, rich, moist, delicious chocolate layer cakes, time and again. Not to mention sheet cakes, pound cakes, cupcakes and muffins, cheesecakes, cookies, brownies, and bars. Rounding out the book are 38 all-new homemade frostings and fillings, and a full-color insert showing every cake in the book.
Customer Reviews:
Yummy!.......2007-05-12
Just found this book and I am very impressed! I've made two cakes and they were both hits! The pumpkin w/choc chips and moist chocolate cake. In addition, there are basic bundt cakes frosting recipes that are easy and delicious! If you like chocolate, you'll love this book! Some great and easy recipes!
Both for beginners and advanced bakers!
Yum!.......2007-05-02
This is a great book for people who don't want to bake cakes from scratch, but want something better than store bought or straight from the box. This book is focused on chocolate cakes, though there is also another book from the same author focused on all types of cakes.
A Chocolate Lover's Must Have!.......2007-01-14
Just a easy as the original Cake Doctor, but think CHOCOLATE! Easy to follow recipes that promise your cakes will be a favorite at parties and pot-lucks. By the way, don't let anyone know just how easy your baker's treats are, that's between you and the cake mix!
Great cookbook~Good variety~Lots of recipes.......2007-01-14
Perfect book for busy moms and grandmas who bake a lot. This is a great book if you have to do a lot of potlucks, school treats, etc. I like her other cake mix dr cookbook even better but her dinner dr book is awful.
Recipes are really good and so easy. Ingredients are easy to find and keep on hand.
Love all of her tips.
Good purchase.
Great & Easy dessert ideas.......2007-01-10
Easy & tasty ways to make desserts starting with a simple cake mix! You'll want to try them all!
Book Description
Potlucks and picnics, dinner parties and church socials, fundraisers, toasts to the teacher, reunions, cookouts—it's the busy age of shared meals, which means with every invitation comes the question: " What can I bring?" Anne Byrn, an inspired cook, problem solver, and bestselling author of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook and other books with over 2.6 million copies in print, knows exactly how to answer the question. Cutting through menu block—a condition familiar to everyone who cooks—here are over 200 delicious suggestions for crowd-pleasing food that’s designed to travel.
There are finger foods, canapes, and "trios"—Trio of Marinated Goat Cheese, Asian Summer Rolls with a Trio of Sauces, Trio of Pastry-Wrapped Camemberts. 25 surprising salads: White Corn Salad with Fresh Thyme, Asparagus and Grilled Peppers with Asian Soy Dressing. Main dishes for a party, from Southern-Style Pulled Pork to Creamy White Bean and Spinach Lasagne. Desserts (of course, 25 of them), and a full chapter of loaves and other gifts from the kitchen, including Chocolate Sour Cherry Bread and Sun-Cooked Peach Preserves. Each recipe comes with Tote Notes (how best to transport the dish), Big Batch (how to multiply the dish), and When You Arrive (how to put the finishing touches on the dish). Plus there are "Grab & Gos"—super-quick recipes—for each section, etiquette tips for working in someone else's kitchen, and a "Notes" area for each recipe, to jot down tips and log in when you made the dish and for what occasion, so you don't repeat yourself.
Product Description
If an afternoon of baking together sounds wonderful but never seems to happen, maybe you need a shortcut. Cake mixes are one solution. The recipes in this book are so easy to prepare, you and your family will be enjoying special treats in no time!
Product Description
Set of 3 Books By Anne Byrn - Cupcakes! From the Cake Mix Doctor, Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor, The Dinner Doctor.
Books:
- Perchance to Dream: Robert B. Parker's Sequel to Raymond Chandler's the Big Sleep
- Raechel's Eyes, Volume One: The Strange But True Case of an Apparent Alien-Human Hybrid (Star Kids Chronicles)
- Rico Lebrun drawings
- Sacred Tibet (Art and Imagination Series)
- Señor Pepino Series: La momia desaparece (Senor Pepino)
- Seeds of Evil (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
- Siberia: A Novel
- Signing Time! Board Book Vol. 1: My First Signs (Two Little Hands) (Signing Time! (Two Little Hands))
- Song of the Silent Harp (An Emerald Ballad #1)
- Stanley (I Can Read Book 1)
Books Index
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Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Kursaal (Dr. Who Series)
War of the Daleks (Dr. Who Series)
Alien Bodies (Dr. Who Series)
Longest Day (Dr. Who Series)
Dreamstone Moon (Doctor Who Series)
