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.




Wednesday, December 9, 2015

No Politics or Terrorism in John Dunn Book, but...

In this time of politics and terrorism, I was talking about my Killer books and The Vase yesterday, but I failed to mention my John Dunn book. There are things going on in that book, too. Big things, like Imperialism, Racism, and interracial relationships, both good ones and bad ones.

First and foremost, you have the book's main character, and the character for whom the book is named. John Dunn. Then you have the indigenous African tribe, the Zulus, of which John Dunn became a part. He was married to forty-eight Zulu women in the story, and had over a hundred half Zulu children. He was best friends with the Zulu king, who made him a chief, and gave him Zulu land of his own over which he ruled.

And then you had the British. At the time, the British were heavy Imperialists, and they defeated the Zulus and took over a lot of territory in Africa. It became part of their "empire on which the sun never set." Looking back, it's a fascinating story. And it's all portrayed in the book, John Dunn - Heart of a Zulu, due to be released by mid 2016. Stay tuned.

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