An Amazing Literary Journey That Took My Breath Away

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	• Waiting in Vain Colin Channer One World/Ballantine, 1998 - 346 pages average customer review:based on 446 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

SIMPLY WONDERFUL

This book is a beautiful experience. It is one of the most passionate and real books that I have ever read. I couldn't put it down and I wish that it was longer. The emotions of the characters are so strong that they leap off of the page. This book makes you want to go out and fall in love and hope that you experience half the passion and true love that these characters experience.

An Amazing Literary Journey That Took My Breath Away

Colin Channer to me is like a modern day Picasso with a pen. His dialogue is compelling, soul-stirring and purposeful and his characters are engaging. You can almost close your eyes and imagine yourself seeing the story unfold as if you were a fly on the wall at a gallery in New York, a beach house in Jamaica, or the Streets of London. This is the mark of a truly great storyteller.

Our main character, Fire, is a "simple" man with a "complex" life. By simple I mean he wants what any sane person would want, a circle of good life-long friends, a fulfilling life, and someone emotionally and physically available to share it all with. So, when he meets Sylvia, he feels like he has found the one. What he doesn't know is that Sylvia, an engaged magazine editor, is all but disengaged from her own true desires for her life. Soon we see that complications abound, and the journey they take throughout the story takes the reader on a cross-continental journey in search of introspection, true meaning and, possibly, true love.

An interesting point is that Channer's characters are written from their souls - what drives them to do the things they do is less about their gender than their emotions and their pasts. With such a multi-faceted story, several layers of conflict, we still get a crystal clear picture and understanding as to why things unfold teh way they do. It is a believable, gripping, page turner, and Channer conveys it effortlessly.

Waiting in Vain, simply put, was one of the two best books I have read in a long time. The other was Satisfy My Soul (also by Colin Channer). As an aspiring writer, I wish my prose was as naturally beautiful as Mr. Channer's. Until it is, I will keep devouring his work in hopes that some of his literary poeticism rubs off.

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Excellent read, horrible cover!

The book was well written, great humor and very relatable for anyone who has ever been in love or would like to be. The only thing is that the cover does not give the book any justice. At first glance you would think its one of those trashy romance novels, however its about more than romance, its about true love and the romance behind it.

Pleasantly Surprising Read

I must admit I have not normally been a fan of romantic fiction, but Mr. Channer provided me with a very pleasant literary experience. The story was one, not just of romance, but of life and the joys, pains, ups and downs of the situations we deal with in life.

I felt a true insight to each character. I admired Fire's loyalty to his friendship with Ian, despite the fact that Ian was not always the most pleasant or trustworthy person. Surprisingly, I was on the edge of my seat during every "episode" between Fire and Sylvia. The attraction between them was electric and I was drawn into their romance. Black love is not always tastefully displayed in literature or the media, but there was a real-ness to their situation. Their experience made me mad, saddened me, made me smile and then go through each emotion all over again!

The book had a poetic flow to it. What I also enjoyed was the very colorful descriptions of the different settings in the story. I could visualize the streets of New York and London, smell the scents, hear the sounds and feel the culture of Jamaica.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a story of struggle: exploring struggle, working through it, overcoming it, and realizing that there are some things you just never get over. It is a story of love and passion, tragedy and conflict. It has motivated me to include more Black romantic fiction in my reading collection. And that was no easy feat!

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Excellent novel; a poetic work of art

This novel was a soulful journey. It connects with the reality of relationships and with all of its struggles and triumph. I was drawn into the characters from the opening page. He tells this tale with a poetic spin. His words unfold beautifully and each character takes on a life of its own. I think readers will find a little bit of themselves in this book. I loved it!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

"I'm a Jamaican. Yardie to de bloodclaat core. I love stout more than wine. I love cricket more than baseball. . . . I love Bob Marley more than Beethoven or Basie. . . . And I think that the fat on a woman batty and hips is sexy thing that they shouldn't try to lose at the gym. . . ."

As the clock nears midnight, a travel-weary man steps out of the New York subway where Chinatown collides with Soho and TriBeCa. He strides up West Broadway in his tough, scuffed boots past cafés and bars. Then he sees her, and a spark is lit. She walks like a dancer, and trailing behind her in the coltish breeze is a light silk scarf whose flutter he deems
romantic. . . .

Meet Fire--Jamaican born, charming, poetic, and talented--a man who's vowed to never play "love-is-blind" games again. Then he meets Sylvia, a beautiful magazine editor who keeps her passions under lock and key. Together they must choose between the love in their lives and the love of their lives.

Waiting in Vain is a sexy, hypnotic, and beautifully written novel of two souls who meet by chance--then fall hard and fast in a precarious world of hopeful dreamers. With an amazing gift for capturing the subtle Jamaican cadences of his characters' voices, in prose that drips of passion both carnal and pure, Colin Channer immerses us in the fast-paced, often cutthroat art world where sculptors, writers, poets, musicians, gallery owners, and benefactors all reach for success at the expense of themselves and the truth.

From the galleries of Soho to the brownstones of Brooklyn, from the nightclubs of London to the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, Channer takes us on a wild, soul-searching ride as Fire and Sylvia try to connect, disconnect, and reconnect amid conflicting desires and wounds from the past. But through intricate love triangles, skewed priorities, and crushing personal tragedies, Fire, Sylvia, and their friends must learn that some things in life are worth fighting for. If not, you're simply waiting in vain.

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