What do you think?
Rate this book
The Celluloid Closet Series #1
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
Five men. Five unique personalities. Five different reasons.
In "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained", five men embark in an epic journey, full of several twists and turns. This action packed, suspense, thriller, will have you entertained.
A group of men who feel ostracized from society, take on a world of organized crime, each for their own personal agenda. These men who all come from several backgrounds, form a special brotherhood, to obtain the success they seek.
Throughout the adventure, many trials and tribulations will form. These events will test these men to their ultimate potential and self worth. How far will these men go to achieve what they truly want? What risks will they be willing to take? Will they learn any important lessons along the way?
Keeping in mind, "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained."
In "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained", five men embark in an epic journey, full of several twists and turns. This action packed, suspense, thriller, will have you entertained.
A group of men who feel ostracized from society, take on a world of organized crime, each for their own personal agenda. These men who all come from several backgrounds, form a special brotherhood, to obtain the success they seek.
Throughout the adventure, many trials and tribulations will form. These events will test these men to their ultimate potential and self worth. How far will these men go to achieve what they truly want? What risks will they be willing to take? Will they learn any important lessons along the way?
Keeping in mind, "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained."
572 pages, Paperback
First published April 19, 2019
4 people are currently reading
1134 people want to read
About the author
Brennen Tammons
3 books24 followersBrennen Tammons, was born in Los Angeles, California. He is an African American, gay writer. Having a unique imagination, allows him to explore diverse topics with his writing. He enjoys dancing, aerobic exercise, all types of music, (having a soft spot for jazz, soul, urban and electronic music), playing Nintendo games, and researching new topics and ideas.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 5, 2019
I received a copy of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained through a Goodreads Giveaway. The book is about five men named Russel, Kevin, Jesse, Victor, and Brian. They feel like outcasts from society, so they decide to rob a bank in an attempt to "stick it to the man."
Where do I begin with Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained? This book was not good. It was hard to read. I made it though all five hundred sixty-nine pages, but it was very difficult. I almost quit several times, but I didn't think I could give it a fair review without finishing it. The sentence structure was clumsy and confusing. It needs a good edit and rewrite. The book was full of redundancies and almost everything was over explained. It could have probably been about two hundred pages if you just cut out all the times things were repeated using slightly different, sometimes incorrect, words. Furthermore, the dialogue and the way the characters interacted with each other was not believable and at times cringe inducing. The relationships do not build up in any way. They go from being relative strangers to being best friends who trust each other completely in the course of one day (and not a day where they go though some traumatic event together, just a regular day where they meet and make the decision to rob a bank together.) Finally, the story was not believable either. There didn't seem to be much research in how banks operate or how bank robberies typically go or how police investigations go. It didn't seem realistic, but it read like it was supposed to be realistic.
If you are looking for a great story about friendships, action, and adventure, I do not recommend Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained However, it could be a fun read if you are looking for something that is so bad it's comical.
Where do I begin with Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained? This book was not good. It was hard to read. I made it though all five hundred sixty-nine pages, but it was very difficult. I almost quit several times, but I didn't think I could give it a fair review without finishing it. The sentence structure was clumsy and confusing. It needs a good edit and rewrite. The book was full of redundancies and almost everything was over explained. It could have probably been about two hundred pages if you just cut out all the times things were repeated using slightly different, sometimes incorrect, words. Furthermore, the dialogue and the way the characters interacted with each other was not believable and at times cringe inducing. The relationships do not build up in any way. They go from being relative strangers to being best friends who trust each other completely in the course of one day (and not a day where they go though some traumatic event together, just a regular day where they meet and make the decision to rob a bank together.) Finally, the story was not believable either. There didn't seem to be much research in how banks operate or how bank robberies typically go or how police investigations go. It didn't seem realistic, but it read like it was supposed to be realistic.
If you are looking for a great story about friendships, action, and adventure, I do not recommend Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained However, it could be a fun read if you are looking for something that is so bad it's comical.
May 6, 2020
Omg...
DNF @ page 15 (2%)
I won this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was horrible...well, let me rephrase that..,the first 15 pages of this book were horrible. Tons of mistakes and unclear sentences. More than a ton of needless repetitions. Example : ”being an only child, i had no siblings”....No way?!?! Really!??? Lol. There was so much of that that I just couldn’t focus. And a ton of random words that shouldn’t even be in the sentences to begin with, making them not make sense. I had to keep rereading the same sentences to grip what the author was saying. They made it way more confusing than it should have been. Which is sad because the blurb on the back of this book made it sound interesting. Too bad the book wasn’t as good as the blurb!
DNF @ page 15 (2%)
I won this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was horrible...well, let me rephrase that..,the first 15 pages of this book were horrible. Tons of mistakes and unclear sentences. More than a ton of needless repetitions. Example : ”being an only child, i had no siblings”....No way?!?! Really!??? Lol. There was so much of that that I just couldn’t focus. And a ton of random words that shouldn’t even be in the sentences to begin with, making them not make sense. I had to keep rereading the same sentences to grip what the author was saying. They made it way more confusing than it should have been. Which is sad because the blurb on the back of this book made it sound interesting. Too bad the book wasn’t as good as the blurb!
June 12, 2019
DNF: could not finish. Managed 20%. I don't know whether English is the author's spoken language, although somehow I doubt it. Either way, this proved excruciating. The potential of a good story was ruined by poor grammar. If I would suggest one thing to Mr Tammons, it'd be to invest in an editor.
youre-on-my-shit-list
September 12, 2019#Nope
June 13, 2019
I couldn't finish. The story may be there. It feels like it's in there but I can't say for sure because it was too painful to read.
I think the book would benefit from having a literate editor take a red pen to it.
I think the book would benefit from having a literate editor take a red pen to it.
January 20, 2022
I've seen Brennen Tammons and his books come up in conversation every so often on my online adventures. I fully expect to be criticised for my review; I am not racist, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted, and my desire to diversify the books on my shelves pushed me to read this. Kindle Unlimited subscription added to my Amazon account, I made my way to the page for 'Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained' and started reading.
I want to compliment something here. The cover is aesthetically pleasing, and reading it reminds me of essays written at the very last minute, a minimum word count just that bit too far away. I applaud Tammons' dedicated use of the thesaurus; I have a newfound appreciation for concise books, and a list of teachers to apologise to for essays written with the same repetitive and confusing style.
Now, the bad. There is a lot of bad.
Put yourself in my shoes. You open a new book, and all is good. It's formatted correctly, and at a glance, it seems coherent. All is well.
It is not, in fact, coherent, far from it.
Here's just some of the moments that, when reading, made me consider turning to whichever God may be out there and asking why.
-In these difficult times to where those who have desires to achieve what they want, will do just about anything to obtain them, it becomes a very complex and complicated industry to understand.
I have never had a stroke. I sincerely hope I never do. But, in the nicest way possible, is this how it feels to have one? I can see there are words before me, I recognise them, but if you think a single one has registered as having meaning you are sorely mistaken.
- Business has come and go as the years have gone.
With peace and love, I'd like to suggest you invest in Grammarly before you try to publish another book. There are stylistic decisions, of course there are stylistic decisions, but then there's this. I know art is subjective, but I feel even Maurizio Cattelan's 'Comedian' art installation is more artistic than this.
- The bank not only is in charge of personal and private accounts, but also takes care of credit payment transactions that customers may need to take care of.
This moment in particular made me sit down and think about my actions for a little while. I'm guilty of leaving essays to the very last minute, and I know they often turn out like this. Thank you, Brennen Tammons, for pushing me to apologise profusely to the teachers I subjected to those essays.
- Russell who self-diagnosed himself as having antisocial personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder, has kept this fact about himself very secret.
From now on, I'd like to be introduced to people in a similar manner. This has the raw, unadulterated energy of an early 2010s Tumblr bio, and I adore every letter of it. I was wrong to say there were very few good parts of this book; this is at least ten more.
- Russell holds both liberal and conservative opinions about himself.
I have a question: We've established that Russell is, to quote, '[...] a bisexual man with homosexual tendencies.'. Perhaps I'm taking this too literally, but I did have a (borderline hysterical, deeply defeated) chuckle when imagining him standing before a mirror at the start of each day deciding whether the liberal or conservative inside of him would win.
Think of that 'two wolves inside of you' meme. Perhaps this is the internal struggle I can get behind.
- An only child, he did not have any siblings.
This line pushed me over the edge. I wonder, deep down, whether a few decades down the line struggling English students will sit down and write essays on the symbolism of this line. Why did the author feel the need to clarify that, as an only child, he had no siblings?
- I won't include the entire passage, but the fact Russell walks into the bank and gets the job on the spot for... admitting he enjoyed his time at the previous bank, despite management doing 'some very shady shit'? The ungodly sound that left my mouth when I read it was only made worse when I read...
- "Don't call me Sir, call me Pete, were partners now."
I am sixteen pages in. I cannot tell if it's my breaking point, but the typo looks at me as I cling on for dear life and decides to push me over the edge of a cliff. It is unreasonably funny that Russell has gone from a self-diagnosed narcissist to Pete's partner in the space of a few pages.
It took sixteen pages to give up on structuring my review in a meaningful manner. Twenty-three to give up on this book entirely.
Brennen Tammons, do let me know where to send my therapy bills. I'm going to need it.
(And no, I'm not a hater. I'm just a very, very tired reader.)
I want to compliment something here. The cover is aesthetically pleasing, and reading it reminds me of essays written at the very last minute, a minimum word count just that bit too far away. I applaud Tammons' dedicated use of the thesaurus; I have a newfound appreciation for concise books, and a list of teachers to apologise to for essays written with the same repetitive and confusing style.
Now, the bad. There is a lot of bad.
Put yourself in my shoes. You open a new book, and all is good. It's formatted correctly, and at a glance, it seems coherent. All is well.
It is not, in fact, coherent, far from it.
Here's just some of the moments that, when reading, made me consider turning to whichever God may be out there and asking why.
-In these difficult times to where those who have desires to achieve what they want, will do just about anything to obtain them, it becomes a very complex and complicated industry to understand.
I have never had a stroke. I sincerely hope I never do. But, in the nicest way possible, is this how it feels to have one? I can see there are words before me, I recognise them, but if you think a single one has registered as having meaning you are sorely mistaken.
- Business has come and go as the years have gone.
With peace and love, I'd like to suggest you invest in Grammarly before you try to publish another book. There are stylistic decisions, of course there are stylistic decisions, but then there's this. I know art is subjective, but I feel even Maurizio Cattelan's 'Comedian' art installation is more artistic than this.
- The bank not only is in charge of personal and private accounts, but also takes care of credit payment transactions that customers may need to take care of.
This moment in particular made me sit down and think about my actions for a little while. I'm guilty of leaving essays to the very last minute, and I know they often turn out like this. Thank you, Brennen Tammons, for pushing me to apologise profusely to the teachers I subjected to those essays.
- Russell who self-diagnosed himself as having antisocial personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder, has kept this fact about himself very secret.
From now on, I'd like to be introduced to people in a similar manner. This has the raw, unadulterated energy of an early 2010s Tumblr bio, and I adore every letter of it. I was wrong to say there were very few good parts of this book; this is at least ten more.
- Russell holds both liberal and conservative opinions about himself.
I have a question: We've established that Russell is, to quote, '[...] a bisexual man with homosexual tendencies.'. Perhaps I'm taking this too literally, but I did have a (borderline hysterical, deeply defeated) chuckle when imagining him standing before a mirror at the start of each day deciding whether the liberal or conservative inside of him would win.
Think of that 'two wolves inside of you' meme. Perhaps this is the internal struggle I can get behind.
- An only child, he did not have any siblings.
This line pushed me over the edge. I wonder, deep down, whether a few decades down the line struggling English students will sit down and write essays on the symbolism of this line. Why did the author feel the need to clarify that, as an only child, he had no siblings?
- I won't include the entire passage, but the fact Russell walks into the bank and gets the job on the spot for... admitting he enjoyed his time at the previous bank, despite management doing 'some very shady shit'? The ungodly sound that left my mouth when I read it was only made worse when I read...
- "Don't call me Sir, call me Pete, were partners now."
I am sixteen pages in. I cannot tell if it's my breaking point, but the typo looks at me as I cling on for dear life and decides to push me over the edge of a cliff. It is unreasonably funny that Russell has gone from a self-diagnosed narcissist to Pete's partner in the space of a few pages.
It took sixteen pages to give up on structuring my review in a meaningful manner. Twenty-three to give up on this book entirely.
Brennen Tammons, do let me know where to send my therapy bills. I'm going to need it.
(And no, I'm not a hater. I'm just a very, very tired reader.)
September 18, 2019
Excellent novel with great character development from the writer. While engaging in different lifestyles, the men form an unbreakable bond where they're able to lean on each other during the most difficult times.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews