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, June 29, 2011

Write What You Like to Read

Not too long ago, I was considering writing a YA novel. Didn't get too far. I was thinking at the time that writing a YA novel was easier, and getting it published was also easier. And it might be at that.

But what I was forgetting was that it's not what I'm about. I don't write YA because I never liked reading YA. Ditto for first person. I don't write in the first person because I never liked reading in the first person.

And interestingly enough, most YA is written in the first person. So there you go. Yes, the YA I began was even in the first person, and I think I got just over a thousand words into it. But it's shelved. Compare that to my John Dunn novel. Even though I'm still in the researching phase, I've already written over seven thousand words, and I'm well into chapter two by now.

So I'm sticking to what I like to read and what I like to write. Adult action adventure. Or Thrillers. I thought that THE VASE was a suspense novel, but the contract I signed with Cogito mentioned it as a thriller. Hey, that's all right. KILLER OF KILLERS and its sequel, KILLER EYES, are thrillers. But they are also action adventure, and I believe my novel on John Dunn can be described as that.

Yeah, it's a historical novel, but it's got plenty of action and plenty of adventure. And no doubt it's a thriller. Just the way I like it.

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