Keene is one sick mofo. Which is why I tend to like his books. This was no exception. Even though this is more a short story. I must say, however, that I do wish that it was longer. Just as I was getting into the story and the characters, it ended. How disappointing. Though the other short stories in the republished book ALMOST make it worth while.

It's a day like any other, and everyone suddenly goes berserk. Except for a few people, who while in the freezer at Save-A-Lot, realize what makes them different, staying sane while everyone around them goes full out crazy. Full of violence, blood and gore. All I have to say is, if the lettuce starts talking to you, don't listen. ( )

Diese Sammlung beinhaltet fünf Kurzgeschichten. Jacks magische Bohnen, hier die Leitgeschichte, beginnt mit Kopfschmerzen.
Und plötzlich ist alles anders. Alle sind anders. Sie werden zu Tieren, morden, fressen, meucheln. Jeder geht auf jeden los. Nur ein paar Menschen scheinen nicht befallen zu sein. In einem Supermarkt eingeschlossen, versuchen sie verzweifelt der Lage Herr zu werden. Doch nur Jacks magische Bohnen können sie beschützen.

Jede der fünf Geschichten hat es in sich. Und jede von ihnen ist auf ihre eigene Art erschreckend. Brian Keene ist es gelungen, in kurzen Abschnitten den Leser zu fesseln.
Der Mann, der ohne seine Frau sterben würde.
Der Mann, der an jeder Ausfahrt mordet.
Die Theateraufführung, die den Menschen das Leben kostet.
In knappen Worten reißt der Autor den Leser mit in das Grauen der Menschheit.

Alle Geschichten haben ihren Reiz. Jede Geschichte ist lesenswert und das ist noch lange nicht bei allen Kurzgeschichtensammlungen so. Mir persönlich hat dieses Buch sehr gefallen und ich fand es ein bisschen schade, dass es nicht noch mehr Geschichten waren. ( )

Jack's Magic Beans is a short story collection of horror maestro Brian Keene and released by Deadite Press. But be warned - if you've read previous the story collections Unhappy Endings, No Rest For The Wicked and Fear Of Gravity (all of which are now long out of print) then you will recognise the stories. If you have missed out of those previous collections then this will be well worth it.

The main story involves a world gone mad where everyone has gone insane and has started killing each other and the few people unaffected need to work to stay together and work out what they have in common which keeps them from going insane too. This is one of those stories where you wish it was longer as you really start to get involved in the world when it ends. After this main story is four short stories (Without You, I Am An Exit, This Is Not An Exit, and 'The King', In: YELLOW) containing murder, suicide and dead rock stars.

The collection of stories is solid, with plenty of story and gore to please any horror fan; but like I've mentioned if you are a Keene fan then some will be familiar to you but these stories are well worth re-reading; and if your new to Keene then this will show you what he is capable of.

4/5 ( )

The only way it could be better would be for it to be longer. I'd love to know if Jack and Angie can survive in the remains of the world, and how they're going to keep finding their "magic beans" to stay sane. ( )

In Jack’s Magic Beans, people are going about their day as they notice the people around them are getting tense and angry, tenser and angrier than people become even in long grocery lines and in traffic. Then everyone snaps. Everyone outright snaps and begins to kill violently and indiscriminately. Four people find themselves unaffected by the madness that is gripping the slaying madmen around them, hiding in a walk-in freezer in the back of a supermarket and they eventually discover what it is that they have in common, a shared trait that is the reason they remained sane when everyone else lost it.

This is one of those stories that I wish was longer. Why everyone lost their minds is likely not important, but damn it, I want to know. And we get only a brief look at the world that remains when the survivors step out of the freezer. It’s hard to know the world ended but not see how the survivors maneuver in what remains of civilization. But sometimes you got to love a story for what it is and not what you want it to be. I always find it to be a slightly backhanded compliment to wish that a story was more than what it is, but in this case, I think it is just a natural reaction to reading a good story. Read my entire review here: http://ireadoddbooks.com/jacks-magic-beans-by-brian-keene/ ( )