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, November 23, 2015

Ash vs. Evil Dead

Speaking of TV shows, Ash vs. Evil Dead has been a blast. I've always liked Bruce Campbell as an actor, especially when he starred as Brisco County, Jr. on the TV show The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. twenty-two years ago. (Wow, how time flies.) It was a great tongue-in-cheek show set in 1899, and Brisco County, Jr. was the son of a great lawman who was killed in the line of duty by some super criminals. Brisco was hired to round them up and return them to jail. Brisco himself had graduated from Harvard, was going to be a lawyer, but chose  instead to be a bounty hunter, at least in-so-far as capturing the criminals who murdered his father. It was well written, and Bruce Campbell was perfect for the part. But it didn't have good ratings, and was canceled after just one year.






But Bruce Campbell was also the star of the Evil Dead movie, that had continued in the Army of Darkness movie which was also tongue-in-cheek, but still well written and a great movie. It was popular enough to be brought back by STARZ for the new show, Ash vs. Evil Dead. It's well written, and Bruce Campbell, now middle-aged, is in top form to reprise his role.

I hope the role given to Xena, the princess warrior, I mean Lucy Lawless, will be good. Right now, she seems to be chasing Ash, believing he was responsible for the death of her parents. But as I remember it, it was her father's own fault that he was killed along with her mother, not the fault of Ash. But whatever. Like I was saying yesterday about the Walking Dead, you need something to be going on to provide conflict, not just the evil dead monsters, or zombies.

Let's hope it stays entertaining, at least. You have another character, a funny guy named Pablo, and he provides a different kind of comic relief that complements the comic relief of the main character, Ash. It's over-the-top bloody, but that seems to be a STARZ trait, seeing as how Spartacus was also that way. But both shows are good, and it's something to watch. I remember thinking TV was great during the sixties, but during the seventies, eighties, and even nineties TV had slumped. But for the last decade or so, TV is back!

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