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 MISTER B. GONE by Clive Barker (Harper
Collins). 2007. Fiction. Horror. 248 pages. Toiling away in hell, a
nobody demon suddenly finds himself fighting for his life after being
pulled up to Earth’s surface. Employing his demon ways, Jakabok Botch
not only defeats his enemies, but is able to inflict deep scars while
doing so. After creating a fiasco he can’t escape, Jakabok is saved and
befriended by another Earth walking demon, Quitoon. A century later,
Jakabok and Quitoon come to blows and go their separate ways, until they
are drawn to a location where angels and demons prepare to battle over an
invention that’ll change the world.
Not only does Jakabok Botch,
the narrator of Mister B. Gone, entertain with first hand accounts
of nastiness, the lil’ douchebag makes demands of his readers and even
threatens those who refuse to comply! Nobody will accuse Mister B.
Gone’s story of being as complex as Barker’s past work (Imajica,
The Great and Secret Show), but complexity gives way to a thoroughly
engaging journey of wild imagination. While many things I’ve read in the
past has left their mark on me, one paragraph within this book made me
shudder and forced me to reread it several times; each time shuddering
even more. Showing many sides of the narrator, Clive Barker weaves plenty
of terrible and irrational, if you’re not a demon of course, actions
while exposing Jakabok’s softer emotions through thoughts of love and
need for companionship, even in a homosexual sense. The hardcover version
is presented with a worn looking cover and pages riddled with a yellowish
look of age which, though the words are plenty sufficient, helps enhance
the atmosphere while reading Mister B. Gone. I honestly had a ball
reading this book, and when Mister B. Gone became Mister B. Done, I
was most sad. – Denis Sheehan
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