Customer Reviews

Gods of Death

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

...this endeavour narrowly avoids plummeting to Earth.

As it is, it's just not all that good. By all means, do not pay full price for this book. Like the other reviewers, I will not spoil the 'ending', and I will also say that there is hardly a shred of evidence or compelling presentation to make you really believe this is all true.

It's not investigative journalism. It's not entirely schlock, but it certainly is not the compelling story as promised by the slipcover.

The story is littered with all sorts of events, but not a shred of documentation; he even states that he avoids a lot of truth by changing names, places, times, events. Sadly, this also destroys what little credibility the story has. Even the name-dropping he does, doesn't carry much weight (and you'd think Robert De Niro's name would carry some weight, no?)

It's not a waste of time... but it's not the gripping story that one hopes it would be.

Admittedly reads more like a potboiler thriller at times, and I strongly suspect it was written with the big screen in mind - understandable, since much of the book is comprised of the author's financial concerns & what his obsession with finding out the truth behind snuff films drives him to do and spend, both monetarily and emotionally.

When his investigation came to end, the author had a problem (another reviewer already gives away the ending, so I don't think I'm divulging any secrets): he hadn't managed to come up with the goods - he'd finally gotten his hands on a tape, but it was stolen from him while he was detained in a Serbian police station. So what do you do? His answer is to make a book out of the subjective experience of hunting down the truth - what he goes through, how it affects his family life, his psychological state, the potentially life-threatening situations he encounters, the characters he meets & how he gets on with them. This makes some sense, because the reader wants to understand the mental and moral state of people who could actually make, enjoy, or be in any way involved with these films, as well as what effects such images have on 'normal' people - as Svoray says, once you've seen them, there's no going back. Unfortunately Svoray doesn't have the psychological insight to make much of this (a much better example of real insight into monstrosity and evil is Christopher Browning's "Ordinary Men," which looks at a single battallion in Poland as a case study to understand how so many people could have committed the Holocaust) - great credit to him for his investigative skills, but his constant efforts at casting himself as moral judge disallow him from genuine understanding, and his portraits come straight from stock characters from standard thrillers. This problem potentially undermines the book's veracity, but one can also argue that he merely understands these people on the same terms borrowed from Hollywood, or that his co-writer (a screenwriter) compressed his character portraits to make for a fast read.

The book is a very quick read and compelling at times, and the reader must admire the author's bravado. So, in the end, does his claim to have seen real snuff films stand up? What proof does he offer? Here's something: he claims to have set up a viewing for the actor Robert De Niro and a friend of De Niro's; he recounts a conversation between the two men in which they say they believed the film was real; and De Niro's press agent has confirmed the viewing. So, while Svoray couldn't come up with any hard evidence, the De Niro story is pretty convincing that such films do in fact exist, and that there is indeed pure evil (in Svoray's terms) in the world.

That "Gods of Death" [is] a sensationalist puff-piece written like a very slow spy novel.
There is a lot of speculation over the validity of snuff films and while there's certainly a possibility that they do exist Mr. Svoray doesn't present a very compelling argument. The one thing he NEVER acheives is to convince us of a worldwide underground for this stuff. More to the point, he actually acheives the opposite with his bumbling investigation, which is convince the reader that snuff films are not so much an industry unto themselves but rather an isolated occurance.
Throughout his investigation he askes the reader to accept a lot without giving us any real incentive. The "I know it doesn't look like much but you'll just have to trust me" method is the main device that is employed throughout this book.
While you certainly won't find any meaty informative value in this book one might be so inclined as to read it just for morbid curiousity, especially in the light of recent movies like "8mm", and I can tell you in all seriousness that it falls flat in that avenue as well. "Gods of Death" [is] more or less like a pulp spy novel. The only problem is that it is too dreadfully paced and full of macho bravado to even entice the most desperate spy novel geek. And as it pertains to its main character, Mr. Svoray, he tries to put himself over but instead comes across like an irredeemable [idiot].
While I'm certain that some reviewers are of the skeptic camp I'm also sure that there were a great many more that were like myself who went into it with a "show me" attitude. I was willing to accept a possible theory as long as there was sufficient evidence to back it up. Needless to say, there wasn't. As it seems "Gods of Death" makes its entire case on hearsay.
If you are waiting for an intelligent and believable look into the world of snuff pornography I suspect you'll have to wait a while longer. If it's just perverse entertainment you're into then rent "8mm". It's more enjoyable and ultimately more realistic than Yaron Svoray would have you believe.

This book unfortunately misleads the prospective customer in both title and synopsis. It reads like a bad spy novel, and the most disturbing text is the price on the overleaf. As it is currently out of print (as it should be) I would suggest you think twice before making this purchase.

This is a difficult subject, and Mr. Svoray milks our interest in the dark side of human nature purely for cash, with only feeble attempts to justify himself.

A work on any subject matter such as this, to be taken seriously, should have the following:

- some basis in fact or historical events; - notes or a bibliography on sources;and, - an effort by the author to remove his/her personal bias.

His supposed reason for writing the book was a request from Katharine McKinnon who was searching for proof of rape-pornography in the former Yugoslavia, and had heard that Mr. Svoray had seen a "snuff" film during his research into neo-nazi groups. The film he finally (supposedly) finds in the former Yugoslavia is taken away, and of those he supposedly watches he doesn't bother to document extensively or question their validity. This is my own opinion, but anyone interested in this subject might want to consider:

- with technical advances in film, mock "snuff" films would be difficult to detect; - news footage and footage of attrocities during war, as in the former Yugoslavia, are war crimes and crimes against humanity, and generally "snuff" film refers to those produced in "normal" society.

I think spending $8.50 to see the film "8MM" is a better investment and (surprisingly)this hollywood movie does less to glamourize the idea of "snuff" film than this book. Check out "Killing For Culture" by David Kerekes & David Slater, at least they're willing to do some real legwork.

To quote from their book: "Snuff is a means by which the media can prick public morality. Despite no such film ever being found, in any place, anywhere, the media continues to indiscriminately nurture and promote the myth as fact. Perhaps in so doing - reiterating its potential monetary value and projecting potential markets - it will one day succeed in making snuff a true commercial reality."

Congrats Mr. Svoray - at least you've proven your "media morality" - we can believe the Journalist background anyway.

I read this and I'm skeptical -- this guy managed to uncover something that has eluded all the major law enforcement organizations in the West for over twenty years, offers no solid proof, and I'm supposed to believe him? If there are snuff film producers out there, they couldn't be so stupid as to let just any idiot who claims to be a big timer in on their operation. Even more suspect is the people he claims to have met -- they all fit the snuff film urban legend to a tea -- the super-predator criminal elite, the idle rich, profit-minded pornographers from socially unstable nations...

More than likely, because he had previously claimed to have seen one, he hacked out a book to preserve his credibility. I think it's reasonable to say that a publisher would grant a huge advance if it guaranteed hard evidence of a snuff film, certainly many police agencies would -- why didn't he approach any of them so he could purchase one and had hard evidence? Simple logic is that if he could, it would be groundbreaking enough to guarantee a best-seller and an international media blitz. Instead, we are left with what is essentially hearsay. The fact that the publishers let it go out of print out to say something about the authors' credibility.

"...so after quickly infiltrating the Russian mob, I flew back to London to take a call from my friend, the criminal, who gave me the number of an L.A. gang member he knew who kinda remembered being in a snuff film. I decided to take the bold approach -- posing as a buyer -- and told everyone 'you don't know who you're messing with.' and it worked! Everyone gave me names and numbers of people they knew who would be happy to sell me a snuff film!

"So I flew back to New York to watch another snuff film.... blah blah blah"

This book is a load of poo-poo.

I came across this book when I was reading a biography on Robert DeNiro. In DeNiro's bio the author refers to this book and the encounter that took place between the author and the iconic actor. I was also intrigued by the "Snuff" film myth and if in fact any existed. I did a little research while I was reading Svoray's book and came to the conclusion that no snuff film has ever surfaced. Ever. I do believe that somewhere in this twisted world Snuff films are out there but you would have to go way underground to get one. The problem I have with this book is that the author on several occasions comes across actual Snuff films and does not aggresively pursue, notify authorities, etc. about the monsters who supposedly produced these film. Another major flaw in Svorays book is after reading it you are left with the feeling that you just read a work of fiction not investigative journalism on a very serious subject. The book is testosterone driven and Svoray wants to impress the reader by embellishing his encounters with two bit hustlers, the Russian mob, and a female Serbian interpreter that he pretty much wants to have an affair with after mentioning constantly in the book about how much he is devoted to his wife and children. In my opinion the book has no credibility at all. Svaroy is totally awestruck by DeNiro (if in fact he ever met him) and if he did probably wrote the book for a potential movie deal. I gave the book three stars because if you want to spend thirteen cents on amazon and are willing to read the book as a work of fiction you might enjoy it. Mr. Savroy is quite a character and there really is never a dull moment in the book. The meeting with the old Russian mobster the in the last chapter of this book will attest to that.

I did my senior research paper on the "urban legend" of snuff films, this book helped me immensly ! Easy reading cover-to-cover; I commend Yaron Svoray for the work he has done to help publicise the atrocities he witnessed while researching. Anyone interested in the workings of the underworld should read this book.

With thousands of words written on the subject of death films, one would feel this is a tired subject. A true snuff film has yet to emerge, and Yaron Svoray's Gods of Death, does little to shed any light to the subject.

The book is a great read if treated as fiction. However, the author wants us to believe what he is telling us, no matter how extreme, is true; yet presents not one shred of hard evidence. In one of the closing scenes Svoray has a snuff movie stolen from him, therefore depriving the reader proof. This is par for the course, as the author gives nothing but his own word as to the reality of these type of movies.

This Catherine McKinnon, "snuff movies are real, I know, but I can't tell you how I know," philosophy is seemingly shared by Svoray. The book will be grist for the ultra-feminist extremists who will flaunt any piece of literature, no matter how faulty, to prove their points. With this disgraceful piece of "journalism," Savroy has played right into their hands.

Read it if you want cheap thrills.

I am getting a little tired of reading reviews written by people who go into a reading experience working on the assumption that what the writer has chosen to write about simply doesn't exist--i.e., snuff films, ritual abuse, etc. Certainly the author presents serious credentials as an investigative journalist. It is extremely frustrating to read through the book and not have him come up with the object his search--absolute proof. But that, after all, is what separates nonfiction from fiction--the answers are rarely neat and satisfying. This writer made a commitment to the victims of the darkest side of the pornography industry, and he went as far as he could. Finally, for those who dismiss snuff as an impossibility--do you remember that little historical event known as the Holocaust? If the Allies had not reached the camps in the time, the Germans would have destroyed every trace of the concentration camps and the atrocities that took place there. Watch the documentary "Anne Frank Remembered", in which a camp survivor remembers standing outside naked in the snow in Auschwitz II. A Nazi officer stops to speak to him, saying, "You know, you're never going to survive this. But even if you do--no one will ever believe what we did to you people." Those who traffic in evil count on the refusal of the unvictimized to believe what human nature is capable of.