The Devil in Silver
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Pepper is a rambunctious big man, and, suddenly, the surprised inmate of a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York. He's not mentally ill, but that doesn't seem to matter. On his first night, he's visited by a terrifying creature who nearly kills him before being hustled away by the hospital staff. It's no delusion: The other patients confirm that a hungry devil roams the hallways when the sun goes down. Pepper rallies three other inmates in a plot to fight back: Dorry, an octogenarian schizophrenic; Coffee, an African immigrant with severe OCD; and Loochie, a bipolar teenage girl. Battling the pill-pushing staff, one another, and their own minds, they try to kill the monster that's stalking them. But can the Devil die?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This searing novel presents a distinctive take on the trials of mental health patients in the United States. After an altercation with the cops, boisterous but good-natured Pepper is brought into a psychiatric ward for holding, where he (like all the other patients) is routinely drugged into a stupor that saps his will to leave. Author Victor LaValle, who told Apple Books about his real-life experiences visiting family members in psych wards, paints a disturbing and realistic portrait of our mental healthcare system—it’s not that the staff is evil, but that corporate profit margins don’t allow for adequate funding. Of course, this being LaValle, he also weaves in fantastical elements, building on the myth of the Minotaur. We loved his characters as well, especially Pepper’s OCD-troubled roommate and friend, Coffee. LaValle narrates the audiobook himself, emphasizing key passages with a straightforward intensity and adding flair to the fantasy elements. This powerful story will keep you hanging on every word.
