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, March 27, 2012

Revising KILLER EYES

I'm thick in the middle of revising KILLER EYES. That is the sequel to KILLER OF KILLERS. And it's a good thing I'm revising it. It's probably the manuscript on which I had given the least amount of time. Until now, that is. I think I only gave it two complete read-throughs until now. Even JOHN DUNN had received three. So this is my third pass through KILLER EYES. And I am improving the prose big time, which is something that always results when I read through a manuscript.

Even when I want to read through a story of mine for other reasons, I always find better ways to word the sentences and/or the paragraphs. I always find a better word or a better way to make what happens sound better. And in KILLER EYES more than any other story I've written, there are sub-plots that need to be tied together in a better way.

I'm working on that, too. I might have gone over the top with subplots, and I might have to get rid of one or two of them if I can't make them smooth. Especially in the conclusion. But one of the reasons I have them is to make room for another sequel after this one, which, now that KILLER OF KILLERS is getting published, may end up happening.

I had ended KILLER EYES so that it could be the end of the Trent Smith story. I wasn't planning on writing another Trent Smith story if KILLER OF KILLERS never got published. I was with the mind to go with other books, like THE VASE and JOHN DUNN. But that's not the case anymore. Now I'm thinking I would like to write at least one more Trent Smith story. Or maybe two. We'll see.

No comments:

Post a Comment