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, February 8, 2013

Second Sequel to Killer of Killers

I'm still revising the first sequel to Killer of Killers, and Killer Eyes is coming along nicely. It pretty much picks up where Killer of Killers leaves off. Make no mistake, Killer of Killers can be considered a stand alone story. My publisher, Melange Books, even thought it was, because I had made no mention of a sequel until after Killer of Killers was published.

But I've told them since, and they are expecting the manuscript this month, because I told them it should be ready by this month. And I think it will be, because I actually wrote it a couple years ago. I just didn't start revising it until recently. And it's getting there. One of the things I concentrated on was this POV thing. I learned about it from Melange, but it was Penumbra Publishing who really drove the point home to me. And that was during the rewrite of The Vase. Can't wait to see how their editors feel about how it is now.

But with the Killer of Killers story, the sequel, Killer Eyes, not only continues where Killer of Killers left off, it actually wraps up that particular story arc. All the questions are answered, and all the conflict is resolved. And the reason I did that was because I wasn't sure Killer of Killers was ever going to be published, and I didn't want to keep writing sequels to a book or books that would never see print.

My mistake. I should have had more confidence in that story, since it DID get published, and the sequels will be, too. But so far there is only one sequel. Which brings me to the title of this post. The second sequel. I wanted to call it The Killers Guild, or use a title that has Killer in it. Then it could be referred to as the Killer Trilogy.

The Killers Guild is a club of killers, obviously, professional assassins, actually, and Trent Smith, the main character kills them all in Killer Eyes. So if they're all killed, how can I have another book called The Killers Guild? Well, they're reformed. That's how. By whom? Well, that's a good question, and I'm still figuring it out. Hey, I haven't written it yet. Let me finish Killer Eyes first, and then I'll write that one. But I'm thinking about it.
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