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: #289482 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

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.

mister b gone
I am glad to see that I am not the only one who thought the pleas to burn the book were so tedious that they ended up skipping over them too. Reading the jacket, I thought this was an exciting idea. I was very disappointed and wondered if there would be anything illegal about me writing a book with the same premise of a demon speaking to you from the book, but in the way I had hoped it would be. Not having the best knowledge of grammar, I was not sure if it was me - but I did think there was quite a bit of editing that seemed to be missed. And, I thought to myself while reading it, "I hope I don't have to read the words din or throng or tattoo in this book again".......but eventually they would appear. Fairly disappointed.