Immanuel's Veins

By Ted Dekker

Toma and Alek have been sent by the Russian empress, Catherine the Great, to protect the Cantemir family who are spending the summer in the mountains of Moldavia. Toma is a Russian war hero and Alek is his close friend and no slouch in the daring-do department either. The family, loyal to the Russian throne in uncertain times, consists of an absent father, the mother and her two twin daughters. These three women love life and are famous for their rather extravagant and loose ways. Toma later finds out that the empress wants one of the daughters, Lucine, to form a political marriage important to the throne, so one of the two men's duties is to keep other suitors away from Lucine.
Upon meeting the two young women, Toma and Alek are charmed and captivated, Alek with Natasha and Toma with Lucine. Toma keeps his feelings concealed but Alek enthusiastically and successfully woos Natasha.
Soon after their arrival, at a party being held by their hostess, five people arrive at the party. These people, known as the Russians, are strangely and strikingly dressed, and are very compelling and attractive in appearance. Toma finds them disturbing and threatening and at the same time alluring. An incident occurs at the party when Natasha is found unconscious on the floor with blood on her face, apparently having been hurt by one of the Russian men. He claims that he kissed her, with her permission, and that she swooned from pleasure. Alek challenges him and in the dust-up that follows, Toma shoots and kills the Russian. Into the middle of this walks the last Russian, one Vlad van Valerik.
Despite Toma's words and cautions, Natasha & Lucine become deeply involved with these Russians, who, no surprise, turn out to be a coven of vampires. Alek also becomes seduced by their luxurious and sensuous lifestyles, not knowing that he and the two young women are being changed into vampires themselves. Even Toma is briefly seduced by them. He comes to his senses and realizes that something is very wrong with these people. But Alek and Natasha will not listen and even Lucine, the more cautious twin, is snared in Vlad's toils.
Toma is given a book by a mysterious stranger that tells him the truth about Vlad and, armed with this new information, he is determined he will get Natasha, Alek and Lucine away from their new lord, Vlad van Valerik, even if he has to die trying.

This was an old-fashioned vampire story, with evil, remorseless vampires preying on hapless humans. Though these vampires are somewhat different than the traditional vampires in various ways, still their natures are the same as the classic vampire. These are bad-ass vampires and falling under their sway is not a happy way to end up. The book has a strange ambience, a mixture of old and modern, with an ancient castle, passageways, dungeons, but with the people partying and getting stoned (on vampire blood) like kids at a college frat house. The vampire women dress like dominatrixes in short dresses and thigh-high boots, even at times wearing pants. One of the vampires calls Toma a "party-pooper." It was just a peculiar mixture. Anyway, it was a pretty good book, Dekker's vampires are strange and different and menacing and the story was interesting and worth the read.