DEATH and LIFE
in the
CITY of DREAMS
A Novel by Nicholas Deitch
A story of a city, memory, and the fragile hope of renewal.
Watch the trailer
– Available April 16th 2026 –
A city’s hidden history. A founder’s unfinished dream.
And the hope of a future worth sharing.
Death and Life in the City of Dreams is a story of the rise, unraveling, and struggling rebirth of Evermore—a fictional American city—shaped by dreams, wounded by greed and neglect, waiting to be healed and made whole.
From the golden age of streetcars and civic landmarks to the shadow of freeways and fractured communities, this sweeping novel spans four generations of builders, dreamers, profiteers, and stewards. At its heart are two men: Martin Tyler, an idealistic architect in the 1890s, and Townsend Meadows, a weary city planner a century later, caught between the politics of compromise and the pull of a forgotten vision.
As a hidden dream emerges, buried histories are revealed and a chance at redemption flickers into view. In a city where housing has become a bargaining chip, and land is a commodity to be exploited, one question rises in the fray: What legacy will we choose to leave for the children of our children and the generations to come?
“An immersive meditation on the tragedies and possibilities of American cities.”
Kirkus Review
“Your character development is so good. It feels like I know these people and can be proud or disappointed in them.”
Reader Review
“Congratulations on this wonderful achievement! I’m looking forward to the next one!”
Reader Review
“. . . Kudos and bravo to the author on an outstanding achievement. Astute readers are going to love it as much as I did!”
Leslie Ferguson, editor and award-winning author of When I Was Her Daughter
“Your descriptions of place are vivid and allow me to ‘see’ the places.”
Reader Review
“This beautiful valley
This valley of abundance that was once lush and alive, it all belongs to a vast family of trees and beasts and wild things.
And sure, us humans too— some long dead, some now living, and uncountable others yet to be born.”
-Mathew Tyler
Reader Resources
Synopsis of the story, Description of the Setting,
List of Principle Characters and their Relationships.
Also includes an Epigraph and Dedication
Some spoilers found within.
And just how tall ought buildings really be?
Will people one day inhabit the clouds, the city a vast naked array of sky-piercing spires, the poor living in the darkest depth, the streets a mere wasteland in the shadows?