The Thief of Always, book review. (Clive Barker)

As a lot of people are at home at the moment with their children, I thought, why not do a post for the kids.
It's been twenty-plus years since I last read this little gem of a book and I wish I hadn't left it so long.

Being a little bored and annoyed with all the chores his mother has given him, Harvey Swick is in a foul mood, so when Rictus appears in his bedroom, offering to take him to Mr. Hood's holiday house, a house that has stood for a thousand years and is only just the other side of town, where he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants, where he'll never go hungry, do chores or be bored again, Harvey decides to take him up on the offer.
Of course, this being Clive Barker, all is not quite as it seems. His first day is full of fun and frivolity and passes without incident, and whilst waking to spring the next morning, having summer in the afternoon, Autumn and a Halloween feast for dinner and going to sleep with Christmas, the next day is like a dream. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, there's the pool for a start, the deep dark foreboding pool, where one of Harvey's new friend is spending more and more of her time, looking ever more melancholy with each passing day.

Then, there's Rictus's siblings, his huge fat ugly sister, who wants to transform Harvey with makeup and clothes, so he can play tricks on his friends, nasty horrible, callous tricks, tricks that will truly scare them, and there's nothing fun about that, is there? And Rictus's brother - Mr. Hood's deputy if you will - who lives for nothing more than to see the children's fear and pain as they become more detached from reality and ever more ensconced in the house, the pool, the . . .

Time passes, but with each day being the same, no chores, whatever food you want, whenever you want it, Christmas every evening, Harvey is getting bored and decides to leave, only he can't, because Rictus and his siblings have other ideas, and they have their orders. Orders from Mr Hood, strict orders . . . No-one ever leaves.

What a great novel this is; starting as child's fantasy and ending in such (child friendly) horror, and what a clever book too, for children and adults alike, reminding us that we should all be careful about what we wish for and that maybe we should look closer at what we already have before giving in to temptation.

Written in Barker's usual fantastical style but somewhat toned for a younger audience, this book could be enjoyed by anyone, so if you've never read Clive Barker but don't want to invest the time it would take to read one of his more ambitious creations (although I recommend that you do that too as I have liked everything of his that I have read so far) then you won't go far wrong with, The Thief of Always.

Four stars then and I certainly won't be leaving it this long to re-visit some of this author's other books. Enjoy.