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.




Thursday, July 12, 2018

Homeland - Done - Okay

All right. I'm finished watching Homeland. Not because I didn't like it anymore. I'm done because I've watched the final episode of the final season. Or at least the final season that had been aired. Is there going to be a season eight? I don't even know. As far as I'm concerned, it's okay if there is. I'll probably watch it if there is. As for the season I just finished? Season seven? It was okay. A bit better than season six at least. Well, the two seasons were really one big season, meaning the story arc covered seasons six and seven.

It was about the first woman president more than anything else. Don't know if the producers and writers of the show expected Hillary to win and made their show a parallel story for that scenario. My guess is they did expect Hillary to win, because everyone did. But whatever. The show was on the decline, and even though it leveled out for season seven, I was not much interested anymore.

And that's because of what they did to Peter Quinn. He was a great character, and like I said before, was half the show. Carrie is able to carry the show by herself, but like I said before, without Quinn the show was only half as good. Which was still good, though. And like I said it ended okay.

That is if it is the end. My guess is there will be a season eight, and will pick up where they left off. With Carrie being returned to America in a prisoner exchange with the Russians. After seven months of imprisonment and no meds for her bipolar condition, she looked like a wretch there at the end. Totally off her rocker. Again, Claire Danes is a fabulous actress. I don't think anyone else could have been better for the part.

So now what? Flash? Arrow? Or another show that's been out for years that I haven't watched? I didn't last more than a couple episodes of Empire, nor did I last for more that two episodes of Westworld. And I ended up hating Counterpart. I absolutely loved Limitless, but it was canceled after one season, so there you go. Not much more in the TV world for me, it seems. Not when the shows I love are canceled. Or they just run out of gas like The Blacklist did.

Maybe I'll go back to writing my own stories. But probably not. I'm still trying to find new homes for The Vase, Heart of a Zulu, and Second Chance. And while I'm doing that I'll be improving the prose for them at the same time. Might as well. A book can always be written better, I've found. So I will keep making them better until they are published again.

At that point I may go back to writing new stories. Or maybe not. But I probably will.

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