Travelers: A Freaks Novel

Falling in love. Evading the authorities. Chasing the rabbits.

Being a teenager is complicated enough without superpowers—and the Freaks are about to discover just how much worse things can get.

Back at school for their sophomore year in quiet Quapaw City, Arkansas, the young superheroes are trying to navigate the familiar minefield of teenage life: cliques, cars, crushes, and the ever-changing rules of friendship. On the surface, everything seems almost normal. But appearances have never been more deceiving.

A secret government task force knows about their extraordinary abilities and is determined to capture them. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Baltar Sterne offers ancient wisdom and a glimmer of hope, even as something far more terrifying begins to stir in the woods beyond town.

Intelligent, relentless, and deadlier than any enemy the Freaks have encountered, a mysterious traveler from another world has arrived. Its powers border on the godlike, and its intentions remain terrifyingly unclear. As the threat grows, the Freaks must confront dangers beyond anything their abilities—or their imaginations—have prepared them to face.

With their freedom at risk, their friendships under pressure, and their hometown in the path of an unimaginable menace, the Freaks are running out of time to discover what they're truly capable of.

Because having superpowers doesn't mean you can save everyone.

BRETT RILEY is a professor of English at the College of Southern Nevada. He grew up in southeastern Arkansas and earned his Ph.D. in contemporary American fiction and film at Louisiana State University. His short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Folio, The Wisconsin Review, and The Baltimore Review. Riley’s debut novel, Comanche, was released in September 2020 and Lord of Order was published in April 2021. Freaks, a superhero thriller featuring dangerous aliens and badass high school kids was published in March 2022. The second novel in the Freaks series, Travelers, will be in bookstores in August 2022. Rubicons, the third novel in the Freaks series will be released in 2023. Riley lives in Henderson, Nevada.