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.




Friday, September 20, 2013

Promoting The Vase

Now that The Vase is finished and published, it's time to get the word out. I think it will appeal to all readers, but particularly, I think, it will appeal to the same crowd that was attracted to the Dan Brown novels. His novels had that pseudo spiritual appeal, and I think The Vase does, too. Some people have suggested it is kind of like a religious book, or about religion, but I don't think it is. It has religious people in it, though. There are fanatic Muslims, Jewish zealots, and even the Pope is in there. But it's not about religion. It's more than that. It's about people. And even though it has the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as the backdrop, I wouldn't even say it's about that.

No. It's about a family. A Palestinian family, which is caught up in the conflict. They are centered in it, and that's why they are swept up in it. It's also about a Jewish Art History professor. He is caught up in the conflict, too. Even swept up in it, like the Palestinian family. Both, the Palestinian family and the Jewish art professor had actually tried to stay out of the conflict. But things don't always go the way you want them to go, and everyone out there knows the truth of that. Either you go with the flow, or you get bowled over by it. And these things happen to all of the characters in The Vase. But, oh yeah, there is the situation that occurs as a result of a particular vase. Thus the name of the book. But I talked about that yesterday. Buy your copy today. You'll be glad you did.

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