Mick Woods and Drew Lovelock have enough trouble making a living as musicians before a gig in Rockhampton ends with their arrest. Soon they’re in prison, their manager has disappeared, and they’ve discovered that the car they’ve been touring in is stolen. Their decision to escape might be understandable. Whether either of them has thought through what comes next is another matter.
I loved spending time with these two. They believe in their songs, enjoy talking about music and seem capable of finding a record worth discussing even while the police are looking for them. Their confidence can be wonderfully misplaced, but it never feels cynical. The friendship gives the story its charm: whatever mess they’re in, they’re still Mick and Drew, making plans together and wondering what they might write about it later.
Forster makes the music world of 1991 especially enjoyable. The clubs, road crews, fans and records all have a place in the story, as does the awkward business of trying to build a career when you’re well known to a few people and unknown to almost everyone else. Mick and Drew can’t solve their problems with a quick search or a message to their manager. They have to find people who might have heard something, and hope those people will help.
I also liked that the songwriting keeps happening while they’re on the run. A line occurs to them here; another piece falls into place later. Their experiences begin to find their way into a song. Forster understands how much attention a musician can give to a small idea, even when more urgent matters ought to be occupying their mind.
The Hollywood thread adds a lovely possibility to all this trouble. While Mick and Drew are trying to find their manager and clear their names, someone far away is listening to their music and imagining what it could become. I found myself wanting that opportunity for them. For all the comedy of the escape, Forster makes it easy to care about whether their songs will reach the right ears.
Songwriters on the Run is playful, generous and full of affection for people who continue making music without any guarantee of success. I had such a good time with Mick and Drew that I was reluctant to leave them at the end.
💌 Read this if you enjoy funny stories about friendship and music
🎸 Two songwriters whose tour goes spectacularly wrong
🚗 A prison escape and a road trip across Australia
🎶 Small gigs, devoted fans and songs written along the way
🤝 Loyal friends, helpful strangers and plenty of humour
⚠️ Contains drug references, strong language and criminal activity.
Book Details
Song Writers on the Run by Robert Forster
Paperback ISBN
978-0143777731 — Penguin trade paperback published in Australia on 5 May 2026.
Hardcover ISBN
No hardcover edition is listed among the publisher’s available formats.
eBook ISBN
978-1760146320 — Penguin eBook published on 5 May 2026.
Audiobook ISBN
978-1761358241 — unabridged digital audiobook published on 5 May 2026.
Genre
Contemporary Fiction; Australian Fiction; Comic Fiction; Music Fiction.
Subgenre
Australian Road-Trip Fiction; Music-Industry Fiction; Comic Crime Caper; Fiction about Songwriting. Penguin categorises the book under Contemporary Fiction and General & Literary Fiction; the more specific descriptions reflect its plot.
Tropes / Literary Threads
Musicians on the run; prison escape; suspected set-up; missing manager; loyal creative partnership; struggling artists; life on tour; helpful strangers; songs inspired by experience; unexpected chance at fame; 1990s Australian independent music scene.
Publisher
Penguin — the Australian trade paperback and eBook imprint.
Series
Standalone novel; no series designation is listed by the publisher.
Formats Available
Trade paperback; eBook including EPUB editions; unabridged digital audiobook.
Audiobook Narrator
Nikos Andronicos.
Audiobook Length
7 hours and 20 minutes — unabridged English-language recording.
Original Release Date
5 May 2026 — the publisher lists this date for the paperback, eBook and audiobook.
Australian Release Date
5 May 2026.
Page Count
272 pages — publisher-listed trade paperback edition.
Where to Buy Song Writers on the Run by Robert Forster
📚 Amazon
Affiliate Disclosure
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Danielle Robinson is a literary critic and writer whose
work explores literature through the
lens of atmosphere, memory, culture, and emotional experience. Holding a double degree in philosophy and theology, she combines academic insight with a deeply refined aesthetic sensibility shaped by more than three decades working across the creative industries as an internationally published, multi-award-winning makeup artist, fashion stylist, and interior stager.
She reads widely and rigorously, reading and reviewing more than 200 books each year as both an ARC reader and commissioned critic. Through Silk & Sentences, Danielle approaches literature as something immersive and lived with — not simply stories to consume, but works that shape the way we think, feel, and move through the world.
She writes from her semi-rural Queensland home, where she lives with Alex, her husband of 33 years, their dogs Oscar and Paige, and an ever-growing library of books.
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