The book begins with this introduction: “My name is Toma Nicolescu and I was a warrior, a servant of Her Majesty, the empress of Russia, Catherine the Great…” In a nutshell “warrior” and “servant” are just the words to describe Ted Dekker’s main character in his fictional thriller, Immanuel’s Veins. Toma is the ultimate warrior, bound by duty and honor, so much so that the Empress places him on a mission to protect a family who’s political ties are crucial to Russia as they face war in 1772. What was to be an easy task of “babysitting” a wealthy family turns out to be the greatest task of Toma’s life. A task where duty and honor are not necessarily tools for winning his battle, but in the end, become stumbling blocks to which he must over come.
Immanuel’s Veins is the first book I have read of Ted Dekker’s. I had previously been introduced to Dekker’s work through his movie THR3E. I knew his stories were dark, but even still, the depth and sometimes gore in this book initially surprised me. I’ll say, after finishing this book, I realize the depth and darkness of his characters was integral to his story. I found it just slightly darker than the Twilight series, so I still enjoyed it. (Speaking of Twilight – fans of Stephanie Meyer would definitely enjoy this book.)
Ultimately, this story is about sacrificial love. Love in its purest of forms. Love that is worth all costs and brings you to the very ends of your sanity. It is a love that leads you to leave yourself behind in order to focus all your energy toward someone else. In it’s entirety, it is really about the love of our Savior and how he pursues us no matter what we get ourselves into. After reading this book, I could not help but think of a video I saw a few years back. A Christian youth conference presented a skit acted out to Lifehouse’s song “Everything”. In it they portray a young girl who gets caught up in the sins of this world, all the while, Christ is calling out to her, begging her to let Him save her. It is very moving and I encourage you to watch it if you haven’t already seen it.
So, in your opinion…what is sacrificial love? I would love for you to comment below.
For more information about this book: view the book trailer, see its product page at Thomas Nelson Publishing, or order your copy at Amazon.com.
I received an advanced copy of this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Drumsr4girls's Blog 
I’m glad so many people like you have read this book! Immanuel’s Veins was wonderful and I can’t wait for more Ted Dekker novels to come! I posted my review of Immanuel’s Veins at fablefreak.wordpress.com check it out!
Excellent review! I posted a link to it on my site for my readers to read.
I haven’t read a lot of Ted Dekker before and I would have to say that Immanuel’s Veins was the best book that I didn’t like.
The writing is really quite superb: descriptive language, active plot, interesting characters all worked together. It was just all the lust, blood, and even more blood that just smothered me.
I wrote a review of this book on my own blog here:
http://www.tracysbooknook.com
-Tracy
Hopefully I like it. I’m a Ted Dekker nut but some of his books lately have bogged me down trying to figure them out.
Oh and you have it all wrong. drumsr4guys. 😛
In love with this gripping tale, one that grabs the heart and leads you to consider such great, demanding, jealous love, yet love that brings the freedom the heart longs for and that is available!