Immanuels Veins by Ted Dekker

September 2010 by Thomas Nelson

Hardcover, 367 Pages

Review Copy

Book Synopsis

It is a dangerous tale of times past. A torrid love story full of deep seduction. A story of terrible longing and bold sacrifice. Then as now, evil begins its courtship cloaked in light. And the heart embraces what it should flee. Forgetting it once had a truer lover. With a kiss, evil will ravage body, soul, and mind. Yet there remains hope, because the heart knows no bounds. Love will prove greater than lust. Sacrifice will overcome seduction. And blood will flow. Because the battle for the heart is always violently opposed. For those desperate to drink deep from this fountain of life, enter........(goodreads) 

Review

Russia, 1772. Think Gothic romantic setting, dark and mythical among castles, knights, kings and queens.

Toma and Alec are fierce warriors sent out by the Empress, Catherine the Great to protect and care for the Cantemir family. The men know the family consists of a mother and her beautiful grown, twin daughters Lucine and Natasha. The women are well known for their beauty and carefree attitudes towards men and passionate affairs. Toma and Alec have been warned to avoid romantic situations with the women and stay focused on the job, easy instructions, or so they thought.........

Alec is immediately consumed by Natasha and throws everything out the window to chase after the beautiful woman and shortly they begin a lusty affair that neither hides. Toma on the other hand takes heed to Catherine’s warning and does his best to keep his feelings at bay even though he is drawn to Lucine and cant stop thinking about her. Lucine is much more reserved in her passions than Natasha, but cant help being drawn to Toma as well, the two begin to play a quiet flirtatious game with glances and words but never reveal their true feelings. Then everything begins changing. It starts over an intense dinner with the friendly neighbors, who's master is Vlad Van Valerik. They have a passion for life that borders on darkness and secrets, but their zest has the ability to suck people in, the first being Natasha, who begins sneaking out to visit the castle late at night. Natasha wakes every morning to gitty after effects of the night and blood all over her sheets. While Toma investigates what could be happening, he losses Alec to the situation and both he and Natasha disappear. When the overly mysterious and charming Russian Vlad Van Valerik, comes to call on Lucine and decides he wants her as his bride it’s the last straw for Toma. Without knowing Tomas feelings though, Lucine believes Vlad may be the best alternative and gets whisked away to his castle. Toma is heart broke and decides to go after Lucine, but he isn’t prepared for what he finds and it will take a miracle to confess his feelings and save the woman he loves.

It comes to no surprise that Ted can and did take on a very provocative story. As he is one my favorite authors, I’ve found his most recent work to be daring, out of the box and brilliant!! I think many fans of Dekker will love the boldness and will be able to handle the metaphoric vampires in his story, while new fans will defiantly appreciate the darker elements that IV has to offer. Also for fans of the Circle Series it brings closure to understand where everything began. Certainly though this is making waves in the  Christian mainstream due to the sensuality of the book which I thought was beautifully done. The sensuality  is intense but never crosses the line into graphic sexuality and I think it gives the reader the passionate tone of the message being presented. Its haunting, dark, light, romantic and everything that makes storytelling unforgettable.

{Sidenote} For the reviews out there ( and Ive read some harsh ones) slamming Dekker for the sensual aspects in this story is ridiculous...(because Christian's don't have sex right, because we cant handle the word breast or tongue.....come on really??) Anyways, the book was dedicated to King Solomon and if you've never read Solomons Song in the Bible, its the most sensual and passionate poetry Ive read. Another argument Ive heard is that the lust was offensive due to the couple being unmarried. I cant believe this an issue, lets be clear here- I'm not promoting premartial sex- but as human beings even {gasp} Christians we do fall in love and we do experience sexual attraction, just because we are cautioned to wait for marriage, doesn't mean we don't struggle with the same things Toma did. I thought the book language when it came to the passion was suppose to be an example of how God is passionate over us, not in a sexual way but a very passionate dramatic way. Overall I would tell you not to be afraid to try this book because the girls wear low-cut dresses and the kissing is passionate.........or the theology metaphoric.

Rating

While Immanuel's Veins doesn't contain anything "sexually graphic" I would still recommend this to adults. Content includes: Mega-Bloody-Violence, vampire legends, sensuality dealing with dress and sexuality, murder, death, grief, despair and loneliness.

4.5/5- Christian Fiction-Suspense-Thriller

A big thanks to Thomas Nelson for Review Copy and to Bonnie (you know why)