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, April 12, 2016

Banshee is Back -- but...

So my favorite TV show is back. Banshee, season four is in progress, and unfortunately, it's the last season of the show. I suppose shows can't last forever, but I would have liked Banshee to last for more than just four seasons. Especially since it's only about ten shows per season. That's only forty shows, which amounts to less than two seasons of a regular TV show.

As for the story line so far? Not sure. Lucas Hood is no longer a sheriff. He's more like a homeless guy, feeling sorry for himself. But after Rebecca Bowman is killed, he seems to get his act together. I don't buy into Hood turning into a homeless dude. I mean, that's no hero. It's a sorry dude who is lost in his own depression, which wasn't what the character was all about during the first three seasons. So once again, the writers of a show I like drop the ball.

I suppose it will be all about how Lucas responds from here on out. We'll see. And what's this about Rebecca Bowman dying? Again, the writers drop the ball. I liked the Rebecca Bowman character. She was a beautiful girl, and yes, another blonde, and yes, another candidate for the role of Samantha Jones in Killer of Killers. Actress Lili Simmons plays the part and she's just as beautiful as Amber Heard and the rest of the gorgeous blonde actresses who seem to have flooded Hollywood in recent years.
Lili Simmons as Rebecca Bowman
So killing off this character was a lousy turn of events. In fact, season four begins with her already dead. Someone killed her but no one knows who. And that seems to be the driving focus of Season four. I had thought that finding Job would have been the driving factor. It still seems to be, but there are two things going on this season: finding Job and finding out who killed Rebecca Bowman.

I've never been a fan of killing off great characters. One of the things that make a character great is his or her survivability. He or she is a survivor. Getting killed off makes someone not a survivor. How can you appreciate a character who's dead? Okay, maybe if a character gave his/her life to save others, but then the story's over. At least insofar as that character is concerned. And if you were watching a show because you liked a certain character who then gets killed off, your reason for watching that show is gone. So there's no more Rebecca Bowman. For me, that sucks.


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