Immanuel’s Veins by Ted Dekker
on Aug24 2010
Toma Nicolescu and his companion Alec Cardei have seen more battles and faced more fierce enemies than either can remember in their service to their Empress, Catherine the Great. And now they have been sent on a special assignment to protect a Moldavian countess and her two daughters, Lucine and Natasha. The countess is a free spirit who has raised her daughters to live for the moment and whatever love (or lust) they care to explore. Such instantly appeals to Alec who both acknowledges being the lover of the pair. But not Toma. He is a warrior, bound by duty and honor to the will of his empress.
It doesn’t take but the first night’s banquet to make Toma realize he and his companion in arms have walked into something neither anticipated. A group of Russians have been invited and while strangely alluring, Toma senses they are also equally dangerous. It doesn’t take long for him to realize he should have paid more heed to the strange old man he and Alec met before arriving. When Toma called him a devil the shriveled character had replied, “I am not the devil … he is more beautiful than I.” But Toma does not believe in the devil or God so he did not listen. That will all change in the few days to come.
Immanuel’s Veins is in some ways a radical departure for Dekker as he tackles what appears to be a historical romance. But at its foundation, this is a return for the author to themes he so profoundly explored in The Circle series. That leads me to wonder if Toma is too closely similar to Thomas Hunter to be coincidence. And I wonder if Dekker will admit to it since he swears this isn’t a vampire novel. Yes, a vampire novel. And a testament to the power of this story is my aversion to all things vampire. It’s not that I have anything against the good vs. evil story of the legends that continue to swirl around old Vlad the Impaler of Transylvania. But this reviewer avoids band wagons and has grown tired of the modern interpretation of the legend that has turned the blood suckers into sympathetic cases driven more by 20 something angst than evil.
In a way only Dekker can, he puts the bad back into Vlad (forgive the pun). What Toma encounters in Vlad van Valerik, a Russian aristocrat, challenges everything the soldier has always been sure of. And though duty and honor are the driving force of his life it is his love for one of the daughters, Lucine, that becomes his north star. The greatest lesson Toma has to learn is that he can no longer trust in his sword and strength of will to fight every battle. Evil runs in the veins of Vlad van Valerik and only something more powerful can overcome him – the blood of Immanuel’s veins.
A warning – this is not a book for the faint of heart. Nothing is held back in drawing a picture both of the blackness of sin and evil or the effect they have on the human soul. Just as in Black, Red, White, and Green, Dekker turns the heart inside-out and shows us what wickedness looks like when it breaks beyond the veil of the hidden spiritual and shows itself in the flesh. You will never forget what Toma feels as he looks into the black pools of temptation that rest in the eyes of Valerik’s daughter. Nor will you be able to set aside how quickly the suave exterior and sweet words of Valerik transform into something akin to the very breath of hell.
Immanuel’s Veins is a story of power, lust, love, evil … and redemption. And it reminds us that redemption did not come without the greatest of costs. It is most appropriate that Toma comes to understand this in the darkest of places in the most hopeless of moments. After all, isn’t that where we come to really comprehend what redemption is?
Reviewed by Tim George
Genre: Suspense
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: September 2010
Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by Thomas Nelson
