About the Author

Clive Barker is the bestselling author of twenty-two books, including the New York Times bestsellers Abarat; Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War; the Hellraiser and Candyman series, and The Thief of Always. He is also an acclaimed painter, film producer, and director. He lives in Southern California.

Reviews

"Mr. Barker is much more than a genre writer, and his extravagantly unconventional inventions are ingenious refractions of our common quest to experience and understand the mysterious world around us and the mysteries within ourselves." -- New York Times Book Review"Think of a darker, more aggressive version of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. . . . Filled with wicked mischief and dark dares." -- Kansas City Star"A swift, spare novel that reminds us, once again, of the discipline and focus Barker can bring to shorter forms. . . . A subtle, surprising book. . . . Barker, who rarely does anything predictable, confounds expectations once again, giving us one of the most resonant, provocative novels of his career." -- Washington Post"It's about time for something nastier from the man Stephen King once called 'the future of horror literature.' . . . Filled with tongue-in-cheek depravity. . . . If you know what you're getting into, Mister B. Gone is great fun." -- Rocky Mountain News"A clever book. . . . Succeeds admirably. Because Barker remembers that everyone loves a measure of fright in their stories." -- Globe and Mail (Toronto)

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) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

"Mr. Barker is much more than a genre writer, and his extravagantly unconventional inventions are ingenious refractions of our common quest to experience and understand the mysterious world around us and the mysteries within ourselves." -- New York Times Book Review"Think of a darker, more aggressive version of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. . . . Filled with wicked mischief and dark dares." -- Kansas City Star"A swift, spare novel that reminds us, once again, of the discipline and focus Barker can bring to shorter forms. . . . A subtle, surprising book. . . . Barker, who rarely does anything predictable, confounds expectations once again, giving us one of the most resonant, provocative novels of his career." -- Washington Post"It's about time for something nastier from the man Stephen King once called 'the future of horror literature.' . . . Filled with tongue-in-cheek depravity. . . . If you know what you're getting into, Mister B. Gone is great fun." -- Rocky Mountain News"A clever book. . . . Succeeds admirably. Because Barker remembers that everyone loves a measure of fright in their stories." -- Globe and Mail (Toronto)