Owen Noone and the Marauder: A Novel Book

Two young musicians hit the American highway in this first novel about the irresistible pulse of rock 'n' roll.

Owen Noone is a charismatic minor league baseball player who gives it all up to sing punked-out folk songs. The Marauder is a shy college grad with a fledgling case of hero worship. Armed with their songbook of Lomax classics and two freshly minted guitars, they crisscross the country, playing in coffee shops and on sidewalk corners.

When their single finds its way to a college radio station and gets major air time, it seems like their rock 'n' roll dream has finally come true. A major label signs them, they kickstart a national tour, and the bands they once headlined for now headline for them. But Owen and the Marauder soon discover that while becoming famous can be easy, being famous is not. Thrust into the role of rock stars, they struggle to adjust. Things begin to go sour when Owen grows obsessed with derailing the election of his estranged father, who is running for the U.S. Senate on a family values platform. As reporters dig and disasters strike, it quickly becomes clear that Owen Noone and the Marauder might not be able to survive the wealth of their own publicity, a reality neither friend bargained for, and one that very well might be the undoing of their legend.

New York Times Book Review

"Cowie's got a good ear; his chapters read almost like a roadie's journal and bring a welcome realism to the cable-ready 'Behind the Music' narrative arc."