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Summary: SENSUAL...BREATHTAKING....SIMPLY A MUST READ!
Review: This book is a must read for everyone! The characters jump off the pages and into your heart. Once I started reading it, I could not stop. I can't wait for Channers' next book!
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Summary: Intense, Sensual and Captivating Novel
Review: Waiting in Vain is one of the first novels I've read since living in American that doesn't portray Jamaican men as savage, voodoo worshiping people. Thanks Collin for reminding us what life was like back home and showing Jamaicans abroad in a more positive light.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, but simpleminded and naive
Review: I hope it doesn't sound swinish of me to say that this book is really, REALLY aimed at women.At first, I thought I liked the book, but the more I think about it, I realize that I really don't. Its protagonist, Fire, is the sort of perfect man that a lot of women like to fantasize about: handsome, smart, educated, funny, talented, always , always sensitive... Therein lies the problem. The man has no apparent faults. Even when he's in bed with another man's girlfriend and the boyfriend walks up to the door, all he can think about is that if he spends the night, he'll be depriving this man of a bed to sleep in! I mean, that's a good attitude, but how realistic is it? And how interesting to read? I kept waiting for Fire to mess up, to act like a normal human being so we could see some conflict, some test of character, but it never came. He never became Clark Kent, was always Superman. On the other hand, the charcater Ian is a lot more vulnerable and sympathetic, but Channer treats him with something akin to contempt, showing the author's simple-minded sense of good and evil. Channer has stressed that this book is not one of those "African-American relationship novels," and I agree. While Waiting in Vain is more erudite in its prose style (if a bit overdone), it doesn't even have the complexity of a "relationship" novel. I'd classify among those romance novels that feature a shirtless Fabio on the cover.
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Summary: Finally, the softer side of the Jamaican Man
Review: Colin Channer has done the world a favor. Finally , a writer who understands the psyche of the Jamaican man has come forward. Waiting in Vain is great reading, exquisite writing, sensational imagery, heart warming poetry, and a passionate look at the Jamaican man as a romantic.There is nothing fake about Channers' writing, you can tell he knows his charcaters intimately. His use of real Jamaican patois makes the book real. Words rise up from the pages with all the emotions you could ever imagine: fear, hate, hope and of course love. Forget what you have heard about Jamaican men and read about Fire (the central character). Men will want to be like him and women will die to meet one like him. I recommend this book without reservation.
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Summary: No longer Waiting in Vain
Review: Waiting in Vain is the book I have been waiting to read all my life. It touches on all levels of cultural backgrounds. You will love, hate and cry for it's characters. If you like to read about Love life and sex on a level that you can relate to WAITING IN VAIN is it. I had a hard time time trying to put it down.
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Summary: Waiting In Vain? Mmmm...Not Anymore!
Review: Not since Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Love In The Time of Cholera have I been so intellectually and romantically stimulated (!) by a novel. Mr. Channer has gone above and beyond in the development of his characters, imagery and story telling. He opens a lush hole for the reader to jump in and become succumbed. You'll be carried through Jamaica and New York as you begin to love Fire and Sylvia's charismatic romance (mmm!); hate Lewis' harsh realities; and become alarmed by Ian -- all while discovering a bit of your own truth in each situation. I was moved by the honesty and integrity in Colin's first novel; he has really presented a welcoming slice of life -- African-American life -- that we can all appreciate. While I've already read the last chapter TWICE, I'm ready to read Waiting In Vain again and I anxiously await whatever he'll have for us next! Thanks Colin.
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Summary: AN EXCITING AND CAPTIVATING NOVEL.
Review: A VERY WELL WRITTEN NOVEL ABOUT LIFE. FROM THE WONDER OF THE START OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP TO HOW A RELATIONSHIP GO INTO STRANGE AREAS OF ONE LIFE, AND YOU SURVIVE. MR. COLIN CHANNER HAS WRITTEN THIS NOVEL FROM A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE. WE ARE BORN, WE GROW UP WE HAVE MANY RELATIONSHIPS AND WE TRY TO LOVE. I READ THE NOVEL IN RECORD TIME ONLY TO BE SAD BECAUSE THE JOURNEY INTO FIRE AND SYLVIA LIVES WAS OVER. I HAVE NEVER READ A NOVEL BY A PERSON OF COLOR SO THOUGHT OUT. SO FEELED WITH PASSION AND LOVE. AS I WAS READING, I COULD SEE THE CHARACTERS MOVING THROUGH THEIR LIVES. I LOVE THE NOVEL BECAUSE FIRE IS SUCH A STRONG, INTELLIGENT, SENSITIVE, AND LOVING CHARACTER, WHO IS IN SEARCH OF A SOUL MATE. HE MEETS SYLVIA WHO SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF WOMEN OF COLOR WHO THINKS THEY ARE IN LOVE, BUT ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THEY ARE IN LOVE WITH SYMBOLS/STATUS. I WANT TO THANK MR. CHANNER FOR WRITING THIS NOVEL BECAUSE IT WILL MAKE SO MANY PEOPLE RE-THINK ABOUT THEIR OWN LIVES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay but....
Review: After reading the reviews and hearing about all the praises, I decided to run out and buy the book. No doubt Colin Channer indeed is a very talented writer, but the book seemed to drag in several chapters. I kept waiting for the climax and can't remember if there ever was one. Channer is truly a literary genius, but overall the book was a little slow.
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Summary: Above and Beyond
Review: Waiting in Vain is a journey into the lives of all of us. A journey which explores the fears, the wants, the needs, the loves, the hates which we all experience. For the Caribbean reader it embraces our identity and unfolds into a riveting display of our culture and upbringing. For the non-Caribbean reader,enter a world of unspoken rules and intense passions. One love, one hope, one destiny. 'Waiting in Vain'- truly a work of art that goes above and beyond.
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Summary: burned me up!
Review: Fire is the trick this fine magician uses to allow the lessons of love to silently infiltrate the darkest corners of our souls. Mr. Channer's many gifts include a deep understanding of both the male and female psyches. He juggles with an expert hand men's and women's feelings, and as they entwine, weaves a new cloth with strands of truth, wisdom, and love. Channer's book is a roadmap leading to today's ultimate treasure: unconditional love. Fire and Silvia show us the way as they journey through their emotions. Fire jumped from the first pages of the book straight into my heart. He allowed me look at the men in my life and redefine my expectations. While Waiting In Vain, I laughed, I cried, I loved, I learned, and I was sorry to turn the last page! Mr Channer is a gift. Share him with those you love!
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