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 4, 2015

What's Up With Dustin Clare and Amber Heard?

I had written some posts about Dustin Clare and Amber Heard as up and coming actors who I thought would be right for the parts of Trent Smith and Samantha Jones in my book Killer of Killers. But that was two or three years ago, and the careers of neither have taken off. Since Spartacus, Dustin Clare hasn't done anything of note, although he's finally resurfaced in the CineMax TV series Strike Back. But it seems to be a very small role.

As for Amber Heard, the biggest news about her has been her marriage to Johnny Depp. Other than that, the news about Amber Heard seems to be legal trouble involving Depp's dogs in Australia. I know she had a role in a B movie Machete Kills, and she's had parts in other movies that never made it to the big screen.

So it looks like my judge of talent is far from exemplary. Maybe it takes a movie like, say, The Transporter, which made Jason Statham into a big time star. Wouldn't it be terrific if Killer of Killers was that movie for Dustin Clare?

Well, Killer of Killers is unlikely to be a movie in my lifetime, anyway, so it's not something to worry about. But if anyone were to read the Killer stories, and like the characters, those would be the faces you could put on the names. That's all.

No comments:

Post a Comment