Autopsy on a Living Corpse

About the Book

When Jimmy Polk's first novel becomes a runaway best-seller, he finds himself reunited with the three most important loves of his life—and being pursued by a cadre of drug-dealing Nazis who want what they believe is his unnatural power to see the future.

In this gripping work, Dennis Havens strikes out in a new direction, building the plot on a speculation.  “One day I was reviewing my completed novels,” Havens says. “The thought suddenly crossed my mind: What if Flash Flood Warning became a huge hit, with Hollywood clamoring to make it into a major film, with some of today’s hottest actresses fighting for a chance to play the roles of the three female leads? What if the book’s fame brought the women on whom those characters were based back into my life?”

The result of these questions is Autopsy on a Living Corpse. Havens calls the book “double fiction,” a story built on the skeleton of what is itself a fictitious tale, his earlier novel. “It’s unique, at least for me,” the author reflects. “In one sense, it is the sequel to both Flash Flood Warning and Should Auld Acquaintance, which was meant to finish the story of Charlie and Diane. In its way, Autopsy actually presents a view of the characters—it takes no great leap of intellect to realize that Jimmy and Diana are fictionalized versions of the already fictive Charlie and Diane—and how they would deal with their lives if they found themselves in a mega-selling book.”

About the Author

Dennis Havens, former Las Vegas musician, began writing mystery/suspense novels on breaks between shows. With over a dozen completed works, he is busy on a new book, set in the turbulent, high-stakes world of virtuoso conductors and New York symphonic music in the decade following World War II. Havens now makes his home in Oklahoma City.