Product Description

Mister B. Gone marks the long-awaited return of Clive Barker, the great master of the macabre, to the classic horror story. This bone-chilling novel, in which a medieval devil speaks directly to his reader--his tone murderous one moment, seductive the next--is a never-before-published memoir allegedly penned in the year 1438. The demon has embedded himself in the very words of this tale of terror, turning the book itself into a dangerous object, laced with menace only too ready to break free and exert its power.

A brilliant and truly unsettling tour de force of the supernatural, Mister B. Gone escorts the reader on an intimate and revelatory journey to uncover the shocking truth of the battle between Good and Evil.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #303019 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060182984
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
This offbeat novel in the form of a minor demon's diary may satisfy devoted Barker fans eager for his return to adult fiction after several years writing the Abarat series, but others, especially first-time readers, are likely to find this fable about good and evil less than rewarding. Jakabok Botch, the child of two demons who has inherited his father's two tails, is rendered even more grotesque after he tumbles into a fire and most of his face is badly burned. A violent dispute with his abusive father, Pappy Gatmuss, leads to the pair being trapped by a net from our world. Jakabok manages to elude capture and eventually finds his way to the home of Johannes Gutenberg, whose wife turns out to be an angel in disguise. The book's format—simultaneously Botch's first-person narrative and his break-the-fourth-wall address to the reader pleading for him or her to burn the book—may puzzle readers unused to Barker's quirks. (Oct. 30)
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About the Author

Clive Barker is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty books for adults and children. He is also a widely acclaimed artist, film producer, screenwriter, and director. He lives in Beverly Hills, California.

From AudioFile
Better known as Pinhead from the HELLRAISER films, Doug Bradley shines as the narrator of Clive Barker's new novel. Jakabok, a medieval demon plucked from Hell by a team of church-sanctioned bounty hunters, witnesses the atrocities done by men to men in the name of God, partakes in some of those atrocities himself, and ends up in 1438 Germany, on Johannes Gutenberg's doorstep. Pleading with the listener from the first line to ³burn this book,² Bradley takes to the narrative with alarming ease, embodying the wit, sarcasm, and utter loneliness of the demon's first-person account. With his acerbic tone, British accent, and excellent comedic timing, Bradley captures both the creepy charm with which this long silent demon tells his story and the deep resentment that runs in his sulfur-filled veins. Not for the faint of heart. A.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

I found this a very disappointing read...
Having been an avid fan of Clive Barker's fiction for the past twenty or more years, starting with "Books of Blood", I have come to expect so much more from this author. I was very disappointed with Mr. B. Gone. I found myself tiring quickly of the pleading to stop reading, the begging for the fire, etc. And I agree with the reviewer who indicated that the book has been "dreadfully proofread". I agree.....so many typographical errors, extra words, missing words....and again, since the book is ABOUT words and their power, I found myself pulled out of the story several times a chapter.

I found it to be not scary, not suspenseful, and rather slapdash. It pains me to write this review, in a way, since I count myself an ardent fan of Mr. Barker's work, but this one....well.....I think I should have given it a miss. I must say though, for the record, that this is the first book of Mr. Barker's for which I have had a less-than-stellar review. Usually, I find his books to completely capture me. This one, I found rather boring.

To those of you who liked it, I wish I felt the same way. But, alas, I did not.

Mister B. Gone, and he took my money with him!
There was actually a pretty good book hidden in here trying to get out. Unfortunately, it failed.

First, the good things:

This was a really inventive premise. A demon escapes from Dante's Inferno, and finds himself in the real world. How does he react? How does the World react to him? He has escapades. Cool idea.

Barker's demon Jakobok, and indeed the other angels and demons in this book, in no way fit the common stereotype. Also cool.

Now the bad things:

The conceit of the book that it actually contains Jakobok's spirit, and he wants you, The Reader, to burn the book. While inventive at first, about what seems like the thousandth time you go through it this device becomes more than grating, it is irritating beyond words. I ended up skipping pages and pages at a time to get beyond it and back to the story. In what is already a short book, if this stuff were edited out, you'd have a magazine article remaining. Barker's editor deserves a swift kick in the [...].

In a book in which Gutenberg's printing press play such a pivotal role, it is beyond ironic that this book is so chock full of typographical and printing errors. Also REALLY annoying.

Because the actual story itself is so slight, most of the characterizations are, too. Almost cartoon characters.

So.... one and a half stars, which I'll round up to two because I've enjoyed Barker's past work so much. Pretty generous of me, frankly.

Don't forget to burn this review when you're done reading it.

Out of Hell and into Amazon
(Hardcover version)

When you read this review can you hear my voice in your head? How does it sound like? Is it someone you know? Well that is what I thought. You know you shouldn't read this review, but there you go doing it anyway, don't tell me I didn't warn you.

This unique book is both a story about a demon and a conversation with that demon all at once. My first paragraph is my feeble attempt at imitating what goes on in the book. In the book there are several requests to stop reading the book and burn it instead, and some of these requests are threats of torture and threats of eternal damnation if you don't burn the book. This gets a little tired after a while, but I found the concept of a demon both telling his gruesome life story and talking to you and threatening you all at the same time quite innovative and creepy.

The name of the demon is Jakabok Botch. He escaped the ninth circle of Hell in the 14th century. He has been with us ever since and if you buy this book he will be living with you too. He is ugly, severely burned, has two tails, he is hateful, and he likes to take warm baths in the fresh blood of infants.

I admit I did not think the book was very scary, but for me it was still a page turner. I found the book to be interesting and creative. I found the comparisons between the heartless barbarism of people in less enlightened times (as well as today) and that of demons in Hell enlightening. Earth looks a lot like just another circle of Hell in which we are our own demons. However, in this circle of Hell, there is a choice, a choice that the eternally damned demons do not have. Demons and Humans are so similar and yet so different.

An episode in the book that I found to be quite intriguing was the war and then the negotiation between the angels of heaven and the demons of hell over the written word at the time and place of Gutenberg's invention. This event determined our future and this book had a very peculiar place in this history.

With regards to Clive Barker I am a first time reader and contrary to what Publishers Weekly told me I still liked it. I should say that I have seen the Hellraiser movies and I've bought a pinhead mask for Halloween so I am not totally unfamiliar with Clive Barker, but I have never read a book of his before. If this book was among Clive Barker's worst then I cannot wait to check out the other books (I'll go for Hellbound Heart next). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something different and odd, but not as a good horror book.