Will iconic images recorded in the grooves of an ancient vase unite the Holy Land or rip it further apart?

THE VASE

A novel by Mark M. DeRobertis

Muhsin Muhabi is a Palestinian potter, descended from a long line of potters. His business is run from the same shop owned by his ancestors since the day his forebears moved to Nazareth. The region's conflict saw the death of his oldest son, and rogue terrorists are in the process of recruiting his youngest in their plot to assassinate the Pope and Israeli prime minister.

Professor Hiram Weiss is an art historian at Nazareth’s Bethel University. He is also a Shin Bet operative on special assignment. With the help of fellow agent, Captain Benny Mathias, he plans to destroy the gang responsible for the death of his wife and only child. He puts a bomb in the ancient vase he takes on loan from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.

Mary Levin, the charming assistant to the director of Shin Bet, has lost a husband and most of her extended family to recurring wars and never-ending terrorism. She dedicates her life to the preservation of Israel, but to whom will she dedicate her heart? The brilliant professor from Bethel University? Or the gallant captain who now leads Kidon?

Harvey Holmes, the Sherlock of Haunted Houses, is a Hollywood TV host whose reality show just flopped. When a Lebanese restaurant owner requests his ghost-hunting services, he believes the opportunity will resurrect his career. All he has to do is exorcise the ghosts that are haunting the restaurant. It happens to be located right across the street from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.




Monday, August 16, 2010

Getting it Done

WIP: 80,000 words, and on page 288. Just past two climaxes and still one to go. Well, it's in the denouement stage now, and there are many things that need to be resolved.

First of all, the drug. I never talked about it, but a drug, a very special drug, is introduced in the first book, Killer of Killers. That part of KOK was never resolved, and it's one of the reasons I wanted to write a sequel.

Second of all, Trent's first love. Yoshiko Wada. She is the granddaughter of his Tokyo Shihan, and quite a fighter herself. She has a very small part in KOK, because KOK begins well after the MC, Trent Smith left Japan. Mostly the reader sees her in flashbacks. But in Killer Eyes, she has an active role, even though it remains relatively small.

And lastly the antagonist. There are many, actually, in Killer Eyes, as there are in Killer of Killers, but the main one in the sequel is the Chinese leader of the Killers Guild. She is one tough cookie. She is in and survives both climaxes, and I do insist on tying loose ends. Thus, her affection for Trent peaks, and she can't have anyone in the way. That doesn't bode well for Yoshiko.

There is also another loose end I am tying up. Yes, I do believe in tying these loose ends, and I was at odds for a while trying to figure out how I was going to do it. It wasn't easy. It took a lot of mental struggling with the plot, the subplots, the characters, and their interactions. But I am very near the conclusion. I do believe I'll have the first draft wrapped up by next week.. Just in time for the start of the school year.

It looks like the novel will be close to 90,000 words. KOK ended at 89,000, so it will be a good match. But hey, it's just the first draft and so I haven't even read it through one time yet. KOK's first draft ended at over 100,000. But after so many revisions, it trimmed way down. That's OK. It's what revisions do. So I really have no clue as to the final word count of Killer Eyes. It's still a 'wait and see' deal.

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