Flash Fiction Stories On Life and Death by Theodore Jerome Cohen is a unique collection of forty-five stories centering around the lives and deaths of the subjects of these tales and the memories they left behind. As eloquently written by the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, the life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. These tales were primarily chosen from the 438 stories in Book 1 through 6 of Cohen's Creative Ink, Flashy Fiction anthologies. Cohen also included selected offerings from his two short-story anthologies, The Road Less Taken, as well as stories from Cohen’s Mementos series of anthologies. Most of these stories are 250 words or fewer in length.

Theodore Jerome Cohen truly outdid himself with Flash Fiction Stories On Life and Death. Flash fiction has always proven difficult to write due to the delicate balance between getting your point across and still being succinct; however, Cohen succeeded admirably and curated stories that stayed with me even long after reading them. I love how Cohen vividly described each scene and made me feel like I was right beside the characters. With each photo, my interest was piqued, and I wondered how Cohen would reimagine the picture and weave the fictional tale behind it. Cohen did an excellent job of portraying his flawed yet human characters, allowing me to grasp the motivation behind their actions and the reason why they feel the way they do. By reading this book, I finally understood the saying, "You do not realize how much they mean to you until they are gone."

The Flash Fiction Anthologies Series has reached its eighteenth volume with Flash Fiction Stories on Life and Death. This time, the inexhaustible creativity of Theodore Jerome Cohen (and his pen name, Alyssa Devine) gives us 43 stories, all inspired by a photograph. The stories center on one of the most fascinating and sometimes disturbing themes we can imagine; life and death. A book that is now melancholic, now mocking, Flash Fiction Stories on Life and Death collects a variety of situations and presents us with a multitude of characters. Although we often know them only for the short space of a page, they are so memorable we will keep thinking about them for a long time.

Flash Fiction Stories on Life and Death is perhaps the gloomiest book in the Flash Fiction Anthologies Series. However, it does not mean it is less compelling than the previous volumes. Cohen and Devine are always great entertainers thanks to their original stories and subtle humor, even if the irony becomes very bitter at times. As death is one of the main themes, it could not be otherwise. What I like most about this book (and the other volumes in the series) is Cohen's ability to create stories from a photograph. While the longer stories have somewhat complex plots, the short ones always amaze me with their liveliness and wit. This author's prodigious imagination is a gift. Definitely, Flash Fiction Stories on Life and Death is not a book that will bore you. There is something for everyone, so I recommend it to anyone who loves a good read.