The Devil in Silver

I’ve had several of Victor Lavalle’s novels on my TBR for a long time, but I wanted when I heard the third season of The Terror was going to be based on The Devil in Silver, I knew it was time to move it to the top of the queue so I could read it before watching the show.

The Devil in Silver primarily follows Pepper, a “big man” who is taken to a psych ward of a hospital in lieu of the police station after a fight, and it is clear right away that something unusual is happening there, not least of all the number of patient deaths.

As a small woman, I found it interesting how hard Lavalle leaned into Pepper’s size but also how aware Pepper was of his size and how he comes across. The repetition of it kept reminding me that Pepper is a big dangerous dude, but he was legitimately wrongly imprisoned in this 100% full of monsters mental hospital and seems to want to be a good guy, and these things make him sympathetic.

But Pepper is not the only sympathetic character; most of the patients and even the staff, especially not-yet-jaded new nurse Josephine, are all victims of the metaphorical monster which is the mental health care system in America. Oh, and the literal monster that is meant to be caged in the hospital.

The Devil in Silver was a fast-paced read, and it had some humor mixed in with its mostly cheerless - but not completely hopeless - messaging.

I’m glad I took the time to read it before checking out the new series.