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, December 12, 2013

Second Edition Killer of Killers Released Today!

Today it's official. Killer of Killers, the Second Edition is now available for purchase, both in print and eBook. Even Amazon Kindle. I'm so excited for this. Even though my second novel, The Vase is still a new book, having been published just this past August, I never made any secret that Killer of Killers is my favorite novel. Not just my favorite of the four novels I've written. I like it way better than anything out there today. But then again, I like The Vase better than today's popular novels, too.

I'm not saying my books are better books than the great classics now. I'm not saying they're up there with Melville's Moby Dick, or Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities, and the like. No, I'm talking about the popular novels of current times. You know, the ones that have become movies the last few years. Big movies, too. Not only do I not like them, they are actually repulsive to me.

Novels are works of art. And art is subjective. Isn't that what every literary agent tells you when you solicit their representation? It's subjective. And I like the books I've written way better than those written by J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Stephenie Meyer, or E.L. James. I'll take Killer of Killers and The Vase over Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, or Fifty Shades of Grey any day. And yes, I've picked them up at book stores and read the beginnings of them. Didn't catch my interest at all.

But Killer of Killers and The Vase? Those are books for me. Great stories, great characters, and yes, even great themes. There are lessons to be learned in both of those novels. Once you've read them, I think you'll agree. Try them out. Get a copy of one or both, and after you've read them, let me know. I'll be here.

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