Jumping The Bandwagon

Disheartened at first, when I read the words “Carpathian Mountains.” I immediately knew Ted Dekker has done it. The almost unspeakable.

Dekker jumped the bandwagon.

I bought Immanuel’s Veins on my Kindle, hoping, wishing, dreaming, and desperately wanting Dekker to have taken the obsession with vampires to a new level. These days the blood-sucking living dead aren’t much more than a Romeo putting his cannibalistic past behind him to save his one true love from other savage, mythical Casanovas. All the while, I’m thinking, “It’s Ted Dekker, Ted Dekker isn’t going to give this new sugared down, romanticized version of vampires any glory. Ted Dekker HAS to have something better in mind.”

Of course, he did.

To be honest, it’s actually a bit difficult to pick out the vampires, which of course, may be the best thing about them.

In Immanuel’s Veins Dekker didn’t use the “Edward Cullen” type of vampire we’ve become accustomed to. You know the kind, sparkly in the sun light, “vegetarian” diet of no human blood, and can manage to resist the blood of the beautiful girl because of the good nature lying underneath the blood-sucking stereotypes.

Dekker created a monster in our minds. These vampires weren’t going to struggle with whether or not they wanted to drink their chosen companion or not, they were just going to do it, ruthlessly. There wasn’t any ethical reasoning behind why they shouldn’t, Dekker’s creations were the beastly truth of what vampires are. These weren’t random creatures roaming the world looking for lost souls to feed on; they had history, they were as powerful (even more so) than Toma (the hero of the story) himself, they had a spiritual background, and well I don’t want to give away too much.The Cullen’s were simply no match in my mind.

Toma Nicolescu is the hero and narrator of the novel. Toma is a fierce, undefeated warrior and servant of Catherine the Great. He is sent to Moldavia to watch over the Cantemir family. Along with Toma is sent his best man Alek Cardei. Toma notes that wherever you find Alek you’ll find Toma, however, it’s important to realize the differences between them. Alek is a lover and noticeably the weaker of the two.

Immanuel's Veins is not the typical “scary” novel; it has a certain elegance to it. There aren’t screams and gasps at every turn, but there’s a depth of rich fear matched by few Horror books. The characters and setting also add to this elegance. The time period, the castles, the balls, the wealthy families, it all works together to bring the reader into another lifetime. Dekker does not use mystical ideals and fascinations to scare; in this book he uses the truth and history behind vampires to terrify his readers.

If you’re still hesitating about the vampires, I assure you, this book is worth it! Dekker revamped the vampire image by bringing it back to what it should be: A beast.

If you want a different outlook, watch Immanuel’s Veins trailer (yes a book trailer!). Definitely a new and cool experience.