Immanuel's Veins

I've never actually read anything by famed author Ted Dekker, so when Thomas Nelson gave me the chance to review a new book of his, I jumped at the chance.  I've heard nothing but good things about his writing from various different people, but they all agree on one thing: it can be intense.

When I first looked at Immanuel's Veins, I could not figure out what the storyline was; the back of the book and the inside of the flap jacket weren't too forthcoming about the actual plot, and even the reviews were somewhat vague.  No character names were mentioned, not particular time...nothing.  Just some tidbit about love, evil, blood, and sacrifice.  Friends, I had no idea what that meant, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

I read the book in one sitting.  I kid you not, I picked up the book, and did not put it down until my husband made me by bringing home pizza and insisting it was time to eat.  I ate my dinner, and went back to finish the forty or so pages I had left.  I'm not going to lie, it was definitely intense at times.  It was an interesting story through and through, partly because going into the book you were completely clueless as to what to expect.  I'm not sure I should give any of the plot away either because then the story wouldn't be the same for you...

I will say it does have a vampire-like theme (okay, really, you can figure that out just by looking at the cover and title), but there is definitely a twist.  I'm not really a fan of vampire-themed books- remember when I was reading Dracula in the middle of the day and got freaked out?  Yeah, the same sort of thing almost happened at a few points in this book too.  However, I thought this story was well-written and engaging.  Toward the end of the book though, I started to get confused about the message Dekker was trying to convey.  All the ends just didn't tie together nicely.  When Isaac asked me what I thought of the book considering I read it in its entirety in just a few hours, I stumbled over my words.  "Well...I mean, yeah it was good...the story was interesting up to a certain point...I...I'm just not sure....not sure what Dekker to trying to say theologically."

And it's true; I'm still confused as to what Dekker was trying to convey in terms of Christ and love and just about everything else in between.  In fact, the end of the novel and the confusion surrounding just what the message was supposed to be muddled up the whole thing for me.  I agree that we need to live our lives in such as way that people see Christ in us, but not is such a way that people think we are Christ.  One of the characters kept saying, "Be her Immanuel."  Well, that's all nice and lovely, but really if you or I died for someone we love, that is admirable and shows no greater love...but that person isn't necessarily going to be brought back to life if they're already dead.  And neither are we.  Because we're not God.  We can make sacrifices and even die, but once we're dead...well, we're dead unless God Himself decides otherwise, and there really wasn't any mention of God playing a role in the whole dying and being brought back to life because of sacrificial love.  The whole God thing seemed more of an afterthought of anything else.

The book will keep you engaged, but you just might be scratching your head at the end.  In fact, I would really like it if someone else- preferably someone more intelligent then me- would read this book and give me their opinion.  Am I just missing something?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their 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.”