Mister B. Gone is the latest novel by author of occasional ill repute Mr. Clive Barker... Perhaps we should call it a novela, it's only 250 pages long.

The good news is that Mister B. Gone bears little to no resemblance to any of Barkers previous works. The bad news is the same.

Like most of Barker's writing it's very tongue in cheek in the face of monstrosity, par for course. Unlike most of his writings the scope and general girth of the story is very very small. It feels positively anemic after coming from his more recent work like Galilee and Cold Heart Canyon. Even more so if one remembers past works like The Great and Secret Show and Everville, which were deftly handled bits of world building and the fantastic.

Don't read this book expecting grotesquery and blood. That's simply not this author in a post Hell Raiser world. Expect twisted morality, sexual innuendo, and a book that speaks to the reader. Literally, in the first person.

The characters are, for the most part, fairly shallow and difficult to empathize with. This is partly because of the journal like style the story is written in. It's hard to feel connected to the main antagonist during one of his verbal tirades against the reader.

It's an entertaining 250 page distraction, but ultimately left me feeling let down. I couldn't help but drawn comparisons to Maldoror. Which is much much older and much better in a similar vein. Come on Clive.