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    The Devil in Silver
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    The Devil in Silver
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    The Devil in Silver
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Devil in Silver

    Published by Dreamscape Media Audio

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateAug 21, 2012
    ISBN9781611208559
    Unavailable
    The Devil in Silver

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    Reviews for The Devil in Silver

    3.5/5

    204 ratings42 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book is far out of my reading comfort zone and, for that matter, unlike anything I've ever read. The story is set in a mental institution in Queens, NY, where there's a devilish monster that is haunting and hurting the patients. The characters are relatively predictable and the suspense is low, but that's not really what the story is about. LaValle's criticism of American social programs (especially the mental health system) and commentary on racism in the U.S. are at the forefront. But, these serious topics are approached with such self-awareness and snark that it doesn't feel forced or didactic. The intrigue of the story kept me interested until the end and some truly creative elements made this book a worthwhile aberration in my reading journey.
    • 4/5
      I think literary horror is accurate. I felt the genuine horror that Pepper experienced when he found himself committed to a psychiatric hospital for a 72-hour watch only to still be there months later with no options or ability to leave. It got a little slow in the middle, but overall kept me engaged all the way to the end.
    • 4/5
      Pepper is committed against his well to a mental hospital after being arrested, because the cops don't want to bother with the paperwork. There, he discovers that some kind of monster--a man with the head of a bison--is stalking the patients, coming down through the ceiling in the middle of the night. After a couple of deaths, Pepper gathers together his fellow inmates to track down this devil on the abandoned second floor. Certainly, there are shades of the minotaur and the labyrinth here. But all is not as it seems on the surface. The staff are aware of the monster and even protect him. Perhaps he isn't a monster at all, but just a man, another one of them. And as Pepper gradually gets to know the other patients, he realizes that a) they are, indeed, mentally ill, and b) the mental health system is failing them all. This is not so much a horror story as an indictment of the bureaucratic New York City mental health system--although the horror really lies in Pepper's situation, being confined to such a place for no apparent reason and with no immediate way to get out. LaValle draws his characters carefully, showing them as human while making their mental illnesses seem real. The choice of narrative voice is an interesting and engaging one; although there is no narrator character, the story is told in a folksy, conversational way, like a story heard in a bar, complete with humorous asides. Though this was not a scary book, it was a gripping one.
    • 4/5
      The Devil in Silver is a literary horror novel. It is literature, horror and a bit of social commentary as well. It even manages to include a brief romance. It is really an amazing book. The monster - is it minotaur or man? Is it the devil that some patients claim? But that's not the only monstrous thing going on in the book.Pepper has got problems. He "accidentally" assaults 3 cops. He didn't know they were cops at the time. The cops don't want to do the paperwork when they arrest him because it would mean working off the clock. So they bring Pepper to New Hyde Hospital to the psychiatric ward. There, he is supposed to be kept for a mandatory 72 hour observation period. After the intake session, he meets Dorry who will be a close friend of sorts to him. She gives him a tour and escorts him to his room because, "Everyone should see a friendly face first when they come in here."The first night after his first full day at the hospital, Pepper has his first encounter with the devil. He sees him as a minotaur with an elderly body and the head of a bison. A nurse interrupts whatever the devil was going to do and gives the Pepper and his roommate, Coffee, sedatives. The other patients tell him the Devil roams free at night. Dorry says it is just a man. Is it a shared hallucination or is it what they really see? Or is it a monster either way and it just doesn't matter what it looks like?When he is a little less than most cooperative, he is medicated more and somehow 72 hours at New Hyde becomes weeks. Pepper has a lot more time on his hands to get to know the other patients. The major characters are all well developed, especially Dorry, Loochie, and Coffee. And with just a few deft details, LaValle manages to make many of the more minor characters memorable as well. For example, there is Nurse Josephine Washburn who worries about her mother being left all alone and resents the doctor constantly forgetting her name.The social commentary can be a little confusing when it is not just examples illustrated in the course of the story. The author inserts comments aimed directly at the reader. At first I thought these were more of Pepper's thoughts. Sometimes I found that it added to the story and other times I found it a little distracting, but not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the book.I found the story to be mostly unpredictable and really unlike anything I've read before. I enjoyed reading it. As with the novella Lucretia and the Kroons also by Victor LaValle and also classified as literary horror, I ended up reading the book twice. It really is an excellent book.
    • 3/5
      I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program.This story is described as "literary horror" but I cannot stay that is an accurate description. I actually cannot say what this book meant to be. While I did enjoy the writing and was interested in the characters, I felt there was something missing but just could not put my finger on what it was.
    • 3/5
      I picked up "The Devil in Silver" and put it down a few times before I decided to give it a try. It seemed like an odd premise, specifically the "devil/monster," and indeed it was a strange book. I think perhaps if the book had been shortened by 100 pages and if the love story between the two patients had been cut out, it would have been a bit more enjoyable for me. Overall, just...strange.
    • 5/5
      The novel is about a young fellow, Pepper, who is mistakenly committed to a mental health unit in Queens. There are a host of engaging characters that he meets. And, of course, there is the monster. The molten prose pulls one through the book.
    • 3/5
      The story and themes are reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The departure is the addition of a mythical half man, half beast character that terrorizes the psychiatric ward. It's a good story. The writing is a little bit choppy and the point of view bounces around a bit like a hand held video camera. Some might say that style supports the setting of the novel. But it may also reflect the circumstances of the author as he was writing the novel. (see author's endnote.)Occasionally the narrative voice throws an aside to the reader as if including them in an inside joke...these should have been edited out. IMO.
    • 3/5
      I received this book from the Early Reviewers program and was unfamiliar with both the book and the author. I chose the book due to working in Mental Health and thinking that it would be an interesting spin given my profession.I thought the author did a good job of staying fairly close to what may or may not really happen when you meet criteria for being committed against your will.It was not the horror type book I expected with the word "Devil" in the title but enjoyable nonetheless. Although it's not really the writing style I prefer, it bodes well when I like it well enough to finish the book. I finished.
    • 3/5
      More of a character study mixed with a thriller than an actual horror story, I enjoyed _The Devil in Silver_. This is the smoothly written tale of an always-in-trouble guy from Queens, Pepper, who gets placed in a low rent mental institution. LaValle plays with the tropes of the horror genre yet manages to keep everything very 'real'. He also does an excellent job of humanizing the patients and overworked staff of the institution. While reading the book I could easily see how it could be turned into a film. Enjoyable - and not scary in a way that would keep non-horror fans away.
    • 4/5
      An Early Reviewer win.I didn't quite know what to expect from this. The description made it sound almost like a horror novel. In a way it is, in that being incarcerated against your wishes can be horrific. But there was nothing supernatural.At the beginning, I had a major issue with this book, but it worked itself out quite well. Pepper, who was dumped in a mental hospital after assaulting a friend's ex-husband then two officers, is very skeptical of psychiatric meds. And the descriptions of how they made him feel--well, they did bother me. But then, not only have I never been on those particular meds, but I've never been on meds when I didn't need them. And he does come to realize that perhaps there are people who need the medication after all. (I admit I'm oversensitive to people saying they can be well without meds and that meds are bad and nobody should take them because they hide your emotions, etc. Given I've been on antidepressants for about 15 years now, I can say that those arguments are bull.)Anyway, when Pepper is dumped in the hospital, he's warned not to go into corridor 4. There's a metal door there, and behind it, the Devil. (I don't personally cap that, but it is in the book, so I'm going with it.) He's not told it's the Devil, but one night, he sees it, huge bison head and all. It comes down from the ceiling to kill unsuspecting patients. Eventually, Pepper is adopted into a group of people who decide they have to kill it.Obviously, this is a book about facing your demons and coming to terms with your place in the world. But it's well told and has a rather unique setting. The sane patient in an insane world realizing maybe there's not so much difference between him and them after all. And though it was not really the book I was expecting, I enjoyed it.The author has said that he spent a lot of his youth visiting family and friends in mental hospitals. Obviously New Hyde is fictional. And I'm glad that the hospital I was in was very much different from New Hyde. The difference between Manhattan and Queens I suppose. But there were certainly similarities, and enough so to make New Hyde a very real place.
    • 4/5
      What starts out as a horror story, quickly develops into something more. This book is hard to define. It is a character study and social commentary with elements of mystery and horror. The characters are well-developed and are what make this book a compelling read. The book is told from the perspective of Pepper, a man who suddenly finds himself an inmate in an asylum. He tries to make sense of his surroundings and his life. You're never quiet sure how where the book is going, but it makes for a compelling read.
    • 4/5
      You will be angry at every detail on the way the main character in this book, Pepper, is thrown into a mental institution. How would it help someone's mental state if they are on medication that won't allow them to move their limbs? The book seems to feature a basic, simple concept: the patients at a mental institution. But then it includes one element that you aren't sure is real until the very end: the devil. I adore all of the of characters. I would say it's the books best accomplishment. It's important to have characters in a mental institution be relatable, and these here certainly are. Sadly though, you never really get many back stories on these characters. You don't see their lives outside of the mental hospital. They become the stigma of mental illness. Their mental illness becomes the only important thing in their lives. Even when the characters get a chance to get out of the mental hospital they have been locked in for months or in some cases years, while they are enjoying the sound of wind through the trees, they are still discussing their illnesses. You'd think it would be the one moment they forgot about it. But it seems to happen that way outside of fiction -- once you are labeled with a mental illness, you and no one else around you can get past that. Despite that, the characters are great and it is a testament to LaValle's skill. I loved Pepper on page five as soon as he made a joke about the cops bringing him to the mental hospital being Huey, Duey & Louie and the metal door to the ward being their Uncle Scrooge's money vault door. The cops reminded me of the beginning of Kafka's 'The Trial'. Other books I was reminded of: Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods ' & 'Neverwhere'. Books by Stephen King (Green Mile?): which is mainly because the writing style is easy and breezy. No one does speedy books for me like Stephen King. I've never read a Victor LaValle book before, though I've been aware of his books. In fact, 'Big Machine' has been sitting on my monstrous to-be-read shelves for a while. I can't wait to read it even more now that I've read 'The Devil in Silver'. There is one thing that makes me a huge LaValle fan. My favorite part of 'The Devil in Silver', that I wanted to save as the last thing in my review, because I'm not sure how many other people will love it as much as I do or even understand it: a character in the book called Heatmiser. That should be all I should have to mention for the people this will be relevant to (probably mainly music fans) to get a hint. I don't want to ruin it anymore than that! The characters have to be there for each other, for support to defeat their mental illnesses, the psychiatric system... and the devil. One of my favorite books of the year!
    • 5/5
      Pepper, a guy who is a bit of a trouble maker but harmless is put into a psychiatric hospital even though he is not mentally ill. That’s bad enough, but there is a monster that roams the halls at night and kills inmates. Sounds like a cross between ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and a Stephen King novel. That was enough to convince me to read it. I expected a creepy story; I did not expect a book about large themes that engaged the heart. But that is what this novel is. Pepper is taken to the psychiatric ward of New Hyde, a grossly under funded New York city hospital, because he took a swing at three plainclothes policemen in the process of trying to scare off the stalker ex-husband of his neighbor. Because it’s the end of shift, and they won’t get paid overtime for doing paperwork, they dump him for a 72 hour psychiatric hold, which requires only a few minutes of their time. This by itself would be the stuff of a Kafka story, but things rapidly get much, much worse. Pretty soon Pepper has been drugged (Haldol, an antipsychotic, and lithium, a mood stabilizer, given without a diagnosis or even an indication of his needing them), put in restraints for days, given tranquilizers so heavy duty he has no recollection of time passed, and visited by the monster. New Hyde isn’t a place where patients get treatment. It’s a place where they are warehoused. Few walk out the door. Everyone is drugged into submission. If the drugs don’t take the spirit out of an inmate there, the boredom will- their sole source of entertainment is a single TV set. There are no activities and the food is nearly inedible. Things couldn’t get much worse, could they? Hold on to that thought. A monstrous Minotaur stalks the halls at night. It’s real; the staff sees it, too. In the process of discovering its secret, Pepper will have to make his way through a labyrinth, without a ball of string to help him find his way back. Pepper will also have to learn a lot about himself and grow up, going from somewhat narcissistic doofus to a caring person who thinks of others. The story is as much about people, relationships, race, society, and cruelty as it is about horror. The novel is gripping, although it has some oddities. The omniscient narrator frequently breaks the 4th wall, speaking to the reader directly and inserting rants about society that I thought would have been better shown to us than hitting us over the head with them- in fact, the story itself pretty well shows them to us anyway. In a way, those interludes are amusing, but they do break the mood. The end left me with questions about how the revealed monster could have done the things it did. But these are minor quibbles; the book is an excellent blend of horror and literary fiction.
    • 4/5
      After Pepper "helps" his not-quite girlfriend with her ex, he finds himself locked up in the psychiatric ward of New Hyde Hospital in Queens New York. That would be bad enough, but to make matters worse the patient "suicide" rate is up and there seems to be a devil roaming the ward. So is this novel horror? Dark fantasy? Mystery? It isn't really any of these. Social commentary is the closest category I can think of. The characterization is excellent. The devil - is he more like Jim Morrison's penis? - or is he like a buffalo? What is clear for sure is that something is going on, the staff either doesn't care or is incredibly incompetent, and this particular psychiatric ward isn't doing anyone's mental health any good. Definitely an entertaining page-turner, but ultimately this novel is not what you might expect it to be.
    • 3/5
      If you are looking for a horror story a la Dean Koontz or Bentley Little, "The Devil in Silver" is not for you. While there are some bloody scenes and "The Devil" does make an appearance, it is more the story of a man named Pepper and his personal journey while locked in a mental institution. I loved the quirky cast of characters, and the storyline (once you get past the disappointment of it not being a "horror" story) was fast-paced and entertaining. The narrative became choppy at times; hopefully this was adjusted for the final edit. Overall, a good story and a quick read. Just make sure to ignore the cover description and enjoy.
    • 4/5
      Although it took forever for this book to get to me (really, just got it the other day, I won it in May), it took only a few days to read. Fast paced and interesting and keeps your attention. Reminded me of a bit of Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein, in that the blurb on the cover doesn't get anywhere close to what the book is about. I expected horror (and there is just not like Stephen King) but got something... different. More literary than pulp, but more pulp than say, the stuff I needed to read for my Literature B.A.
    • 4/5
      This is a case of not getting what I expected but being pleased with the result. From the brief description on the ER page, I was expecting a rather straightforward horror story-- this wasn't a straightforward anything.Pepper ends up in New Hyde hospital after a conflict with police, and his subsequent behavior extends his 72-hour mandatory stay into one of several months. He's being heavily drugged, sometimes helped, sometimes treated poorly by the staff, being entered as a statistic in a more or less demonic (there's your horror story!) patient tracking and billing system, befriending or feuding with every sort of person Queens has to offer-- oh, and there's this mysterious entity who may or may not be the Devil located down a locked wing.LaValle touches on abuses in the mental health system, patient neglect, drugging of patients, interactions in anything-but-homogenous settings (there is much in the novel about race, though it doesn't really touch on gender), the efforts of the solitary voice to reach centers of power, and workers who truly do want to make a difference but who are twharted by bureaucracy.Through all this, there is the possibility and question of escape once you are caught in systems-- "legitimate" escape through the "proper" channels, playing by the rules? "Renegade" escape when playing by the rules has failed you? Or a life inside the system that is ulimately better than any you could hope to live on the "outside"?LaValle's novel raises a multitude of relevant questions and leaves them unanswered, points out issues and doesn't proffer concrete solutions-- and is better that way. And was chilling in its own way, even if it wasn't the straightfoward horror story I was expecting.
    • 4/5
      Victor Lavalle’s The Devil in Silver is a good story about a large fellow who finds himself involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward after protecting his girlfriend’s honor from an abusive man. When police tried to break up the argument, Pepper tussled with them landing him in a squad car that took him to the New Hyde psychiatric facility. After being interviewed by the psychiatrist, Pepper begins to settle in to the life of the ward for his mandatory 72 hour stay for observation. He meets a variety of longer term residents, male and female, and develops relationships and expectations of new friends. He makes several mistakes related to patient expectations, and his 72 hour stay extends to weeks and months. Readers will start to think of Hans Castorp’s adventure in the Alps, especially since Pepper is an easy going and fairly friendly man who does not mind listening to residents with some rather bizarre interests and opinions.Is this story a rewrite of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey? It seems that way except for the mass hysteria of residents who believe that the devil is living behind a solid silver door in one of the wings of the mental facility. A few of the characters develop close relationships with Pepper, and adventures of mind and behavior ensue in interesting ways. Themes of contemporary American life are explored in an atmosphere of tension with most residents waiting for the devil to become unleashed. The surprising ending pages resolve the expectations of readers in an interesting. The novel is an enjoyable character study that is not necessarily a fast read due to its length (my copy is 410 pages).
    • 3/5
      Pepper is committed to a psych hospital because the police don't want to bother processing him after he fights them because they would have to work overtime. The place he is committed to has a strange patient who feeds on the other patients. So it's up to Pepper and the friends he makes to help make things right. Interesting set up but confusing. Never figured out the deal with the devil.
    • 4/5
      "The Devil in Silver" is the story of Pepper -- a working class guy who suddenly finds himself committed into a mental institution when he upsets several NYC cops. Pepper's misadventures in the psych ward are worsened by his stubborn streak and refusal to be the a good patient (i.e. passive and accepting of medical rules). I very much enjoyed Pepper and the other cast of characters that LaValle paints. I found the patients to be both believable and likeable. **NOTE TO OTHER READERS - I am a social service worker of sorts and love working with not-so-loveable folks.The patients at New Hyde are plagued by "The Devil." Many of the plot points revolve around "The Devil" and how the patients are being terrorized by him. Escape plans are hatched and patients attempt rebellion... There is a mixture of relationships, class / race issues, and love as well. Good reading in my estimation.I also enjoyed the hint of Vincent Van Gogh that we see as Pepper discovers the famous painter for the first time in a book of his letters. In my ARE version of the book, there is a letter from LaValle explaining how he became enamored of Van Gogh - also a nice touch.I do NOT want to believe that our mental health system is as broken as LaValle portrays it. That real people would go through even half of the horrors exhibited in the fictitious New Hyde makes my stomach squirm. In short -- I really enjoyed this book! I would characterize this as a light literary sort of fiction, but not intimidating in any way to the average 'pop fiction' or horror reader. I was entertained and engaged ~~ I recommend it!I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program.
    • 5/5
      Lavalle never fails to deliver. I think Lavalles voice is one of the best on modern American fiction.
    • 4/5
      I was expecting a thriller or a horror-story-in-an-asylum; such a delcious prospect! But instead I got a story about interesting and wonderful/horrible people, the way we lose the poor in the morass that is psychiatric care for the poor, Vincent Van Gogh, and immigration law. And I'm not one bit sorry.
    • 5/5
      This book is amazing. It's also somewhat scary, although many of the terrifying bits aren't really what you'd expect. Also, the narrative is not what you'd expect. The viewpoints switch abruptly (or seamlessly would be a better word). The narrator (or author, maybe?) even breaks in at a few points. The story seems to be about one person who isn't crazy (maybe?) and a bunch of people who are. And while that's not really ever forgotten, it also ends up being just about people who are in a really terrible situation trying to manage (and survive a monster). So good.
    • 3/5
      I think part of the issue is that I expected something very different from what I got. While LaValle's writing is as sharp and funny (there's a Sting joke that still has me cracking up) as ever, it's the plot that seems to be unclear about what it wants. Don't come looking for a horror novel and you may be better served - just do be prepared for a few creepy-as-hell moments, too. Fair warnings all around, I guess.
    • 5/5
      This was recommended to me as a horror book, but if you're looking for scary you're in the wrong place -- the word for this book is upsetting. Set entirely within a contemporary mental hospital, it's a scathing indictment of the systems of society that treat certain types of people as disposable. It's not nearly as bleak as that sounds, though. There's lots of humor here, love and affection, people choosing to do the right thing in a broken system.

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    • 4/5
      This is, weirdly, identified as a horror thriller. It is neither. Not even thriller adjacent, there is a "demon" so I guess that is horror, but not really. I expect anyone who comes to this book looking for a horror thriller is really not going to like it at all. This is an indictment of our metal health care system, and an up close and personal look at what it is like to be trapped in public psych wards. The loss of agency, the lack of any real care, the struggles of the underpaid and undertrained employees. I have sadly seen this up close and personal as two people very close to me spent significant time on the ward (one of them in New York) and I did my best to be there as much as I could. So much of this is right, and I imagine it is even worse now in these times of austerity. The involuntarily committed are not a voting block to whom anyone panders. At the heart of this story is Pepper, a big man who behaves like a child much of the time, selfish and stupidly impulsive (his actions are both, but there is more under the surface.) We also get to know the other patients on the ward, and the devil himself, a sequestered lifer whom no one treats and who devolves to subhuman behavior. A metaphor he is for all of America's sick and poor and needy, shoved into a corner so people can try to ignore their presence, but eventually its all going to blow. The story is insightful, and provides an impetus to think about things we try hard to not think about most of the time. And it is also a really well crafted story. I touched on the larger themes here, but there is also a plot in which bad things happen to everyone, good things happen to a few and the story moves forward to a definitive climax and conclusion.I forgot to mention that I listened to this book and the narration was really good. I often have issues with books read by the author because most authors are bad readers. Just because you can read 3 pages at a live reading does not mean you can narrate a full-length book. It turns out that LaValle does have those skills.
    • 2/5
      More psychodrama than the horror that is promised by the publisher, "The Devil in Silver" can keep the readers turning the pages but may leave them unsatisfied upon completion.
    • 4/5
      I think my interest in this book was first piqued from an NPR program but I delayed reading it because "horror" kept coming up in the reviews. Well, not a horror story at all unless you think of it as horror due to the fact that government/medicine/society has so failed those with mental illness.

      The characters are wonderful, so full of emotion, love, humor and life. And the "Devil"...

      Glad I read this!
    • 5/5
      A man "Pepper" is arrested and wrongfully put into a mental institution because the police are to lazy to fill out the arrest reports. Here Pepper is beaten down by boredom, inhuman treatment and over medication. Soon he is able to connect with some of the other patients and he finds out about a "devil" who is terrorizing and even killing them. There are a vast array of well developed interesting patients and staff that the author fully delves into.. The principle over arching mystery of the book is who or what is the entity known as "the devil" which you do find out.. There are also a plethora of interesting sub plots. This book makes you think about some of the injustices in the legal and mental health systems with regard to those institutionalized. I really loved this book and it would make a wonderful movie.