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.




Monday, May 2, 2022

Mr. Kaplan? Again? WTF?

 I really hate to continue this seemingly never ending criticism of what used to be my favorite show. Yes, The Blacklist. But once again it is failing to entertain. And once again I am on the verge of quitting that show. As the title of this post suggests, it's about Mr. Kaplan...again.

I used to like Kate Kaplan. (She was called Mr. Kaplan by a tormentor in her past, a mocking of her being gay, and the name stuck.) I liked her character because she was a loyal ally of Red Reddington. Until she wasn't. See the pattern here?

I never liked it when a man as good and generous and loyal as Red has been, is betrayed by those same people that he had been so generous and loyal to. It's like the writers of this show can't think of any other storyline. So they find Red's closest allies and turn them into enemies.

And a few years ago that was the storyline and I hated it. It went like this: Mr. Kaplan, who was a close friend and ally of Red's, suddenly becomes his rival and near equal in crime. And of course bent on DESTROYING him. (Caps deliberate.)

It lasted an entire season, until she jumped from a bridge into the Potomac River. Now it seems these lousy writers are expecting us to believe that a frail old woman survived the fall (and the drowning) to once again torment Red Reddington. No! I've had enough of that. So it better be a scam, meaning it better be an imposter and it better get resolved in this next episode. I don't want another long drawn out battle with this kind of tired storyline.

Actually, the storyline was supposed to be finding Lizzy's killer. Or are we going to have to suffer through a resurrection of Lizzy next?  And going by what we've been seeing, I'm betting she will rise again vowing to DESTROY Red Reddington, the man who saved her life no less than three times. 

Oh wait, she'll blame him for being shot. And oh yeah he had a secret, (which was the reason she wanted to DESTROY him the last time. (Even though he had saved her life maybe four times or more, (I lost count.) But yeah, that's how it will pan out. Just watch. And if it does, that will be the nail in the coffin for me. Pardon the pun. 

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