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.




Thursday, December 16, 2010

Heroes vs. Non-heroes

Does your novel feature a great hero? Or is it simply a great story? Maybe you have both. I know it doesn’t take a great hero to make a great story. But it does take a great story to make a great book. For someone like me, it’s better if you do have both.

My first novel, KILLER OF KILLERS has a great hero and a great story. Trent Smith, after all is the greatest martial artist on the planet. He doesn’t see himself that way. But he is. And he uses his skill to avenge the innocents. He hates murderers. It really bothers him when murderers get away with their crimes. In KILLER OF KILLERS, anyone who murders and gets away with it better watch out for him. It’s to Trent’s advantage at the start of his journey that they don’t know about him yet. But in the sequel, KILLER EYES, they know by then to watch out for him, and the antagonist is doing just that.

It makes for an even greater hero, and Trent Smith is up to the task. After all, he’s the greatest martial artist on the planet. He’s a great hero.

But in THE VASE, there really isn’t a great hero. The main character is a simple Palestinian vase-maker named Muhsin Muhabi. He has a wife who left him, and a son who is all he has left in this world besides his pottery shop. He isn’t religious, and he doesn’t care about the politics that took the life of his first-born son. All he wants to do is provide for his surviving son and run his shop. Isn’t it weird that for people like Muhsin, who just want to mind their own business, there are others who take it upon themselves to interfere in their lives? But it’s true. It really does happen.

And it’s what happens to Muhsin. He didn’t do anything to anyone, but people are butting into his life and making what might have been an otherwise peaceful and fulfilling existence a tormented one instead. Just thinking about it makes me mad. If it wasn’t for that vase…

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