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.




Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Final Edits Finished

Wow, so the final edits to Killer Eyes, I just completed today. Still, I'll go over them again, and why not? I made tremendous improvements in the prose this last pass. I mean, whoa, the writing, I must say, on Killer Eyes is probably some of the best writing I've ever done. And I was so proud of Killer of Killers and The Vase. I dare say Killer Eyes surpasses them in pure quality of prose, storyline, plot, subplot, the whole deal. This is one great book if I don't say so myself.

It reminds me of the times I did a great piece of artwork. When I'm finally finished with it and step back and look at it, and then say, yeah, that's a great work of art. Or a great song I had composed. Just last night I listened to a song I wrote about ten years and dammit it was a great song.

So whether it's a drawing, painting, sculpture, or a song, when you finish a novel that you poured your heart and soul into, and the result is what you hoped for, then it's a great feeling that can't be matched by anything else. Unless you've had a child, I mean. Experiencing the births of my two sons does trump that. It trumps anything. But being an artist and making great art comes a close second.

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