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, March 25, 2013

Spartacus, Walking Dead, and now DaVinci

I've talked about the Starz show Spartacus at times because I like the actors, Dustin Clare and Ellen Hollman, who would be well cast as the two lead characters in Killer of Killers. But the show Walking Dead has also been on my watching list lately. Yeah, it's another over the top show, over the top bloody, that is, but it's a pretty dramatic show, with good acting, mostly good writing and an overall good story. (If you like zombies.)

And now I can add DaVinci's Demons to that list. I've always admired what history has had to say about Leonardo DaVinci, and now Starz is going to air a series about him, featuring his younger "lost" years. Which I think is a great idea. I can't remember if any show or movie has ever featured Leonardo DaVinci. And even better, the guy who cowrote the Batman movies, (the good Batman movies,) is in charge of it.

And that's not only a good thing, it's a great thing. I'm not a Batman fan, really, but I'm no stranger to the Batman mythos, and I believe that if anyone was close to what Batman is supposed to be, then maybe it was Leonardo DaVinci. Minus the cape and cowl, I mean. I'm not saying DaVinci was a crime fighter of any sort, but he was the original Renaissance Man, as Batman's supposed to be, and most definitely he was one of the greatest characters in history. And I've always had a soft spot for real life characters. So I'm planning on watching this show when it begins in April. Can't wait.

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