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.




Friday, October 28, 2011

Back to research

Pausing once again to firm up the research on these battles. Because the Battle of Isandlwana was not the only one happening. There were three of them happening almost simultaneously. As I've said, there were three British columns invading Zululand all at once. The Zulus stopped all three of them. The Central Column was destroyed, the Left Column was stopped at Hlobane and pushed back to Kambula, and the Right Column was stopped and besieged at Eshowe.

So I am researching the details of all three battles, just to make sure I get them right, and to figure out how much of them I want to actually put in the story. I have a lot of subplots that take place in these battles. For instance, not only does John Dunn fight in the battle to relieve the besieged Brits at Eshowe, two of Shepstone's sons fight at Isandlwana and one of them gets killed. It's some very interesting reading.
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