''The Anomalies'', published as ''The Freaks'' outside of the US, is a novel by Joey Goebel published in 2003.

Plot summary

In a small town in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, five outsiders have come together: an eighty-year-old woman who walks around in cowboy boots and a

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

T-shirt; a beautiful woman in a wheelchair; a young

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i searching for the American soldier he wounded in the

First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

; a precocious young girl; and an extremely articulate African American, who seems to be constantly on drugs but in reality makes his way through life completely sober. Wherever the five "freaks" show up, people laugh at them. The passion that unites them is music, their shared dream is to conquer the world with their music, and together they form the

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

new wave heavy metal punk rock band known as The Anomalies. In the words of their lead singer, "The only way to make this a better place would be for God to drop the bomb." Alone they are only outsiders, but as a group they might just be the bomb that God does not want to drop...

Release details

*2003, U.S., MacAdam/Cage Publishing (), Pub date ? April 2003, hardback (first edition) *2004, U.S., MacAdam/Cage Publishing (), Pub date 30 October 2004, paperback

References

External links

The Anomalies on AmazonThe author's website
2003 American novels Novels set in Kentucky Novels about music MacAdam/Cage books {{2000s-novel-stub