Meet the Annas: A Musical Novel Book

In the early 1960s, the girl group The Annas ruled rock ‘n’ roll with their wild beehive hair-dos, soaring harmonies, and bad-girl attitudes. Narrated by their songwriter, Dink Stephenson, this suspenseful tale follows the rollercoaster life and mysterious death of the haunted-eyed and raven-haired lead singer, Anna Dubower. At the top of the charts, The Annas have two number-one hits. The endless talent and callous intrigue of Anna Dubower peaks in a passionate affair with a preworld-conquering John Lennon. Then comes the British Invasion, and almost overnight, The Annas’ fame crashes. Desperate to retake their former glory, The Annas make one last record, Love Will Cut You Like a Knife, written by Dink (though credit is stolen by others), who is now Anna’s lover. The disc flops, hopes are dashed, and a couple of months later Anna Dubower is dead. Now 30 years later, the fatal recording is hugely popular in movies and television, and Dink, still obsessed with memories of Anna, is suing for true authorship. The captivating drama surrounding Anna’s harrowing life unfolds as her stirring love story intersects with the legal drama and coldcase investigation surrounding her death.

Publishers Weekly

A lawsuit over rights to a suddenly popular 1960s ditty fuels a lively rock and roll nostalgia trip in Dunn's latest "musical novel." Songwriter Dink Stephenson, his partner, Princess Diamond, and producer, Punky Solomon, engineered the mid-'60s success of New York "bad girl" trio the Annas, fronted by the mega-sexy, beehived and heavily mascara'd Anna Dubower. The Annas score two #1 hits, but their time at the top is cut short by the British Invasion. The band's fate is sealed when Anna suddenly and mysteriously dies three months after comeback single "Love Will Cut You Like a Knife" flops. Thirty years later, the song is hot on television and movie soundtracks, and narrator Dink sues Punky and one of Punky's shady associates over song rights. As the lawsuit progresses, Dink, who carried a giant torch for Anna back in the day, investigates Anna's death and turns up a few surprises. Dunn (Pink Cadillac; Soul Cavalcade) writes great entertainment. Fans of towering beehives and classic hip-swaying, harmony-driven pop will definitely want to take a look. (June)