Michelle Herbert reviews The Unnoticeables by Robert Brockway…
The Unnoticeables is a story told from three different perspectives that all link together to make an action packed whole. This delves from the grime of New York in the 70’s where Punk was reigning supreme to the sanitised world of L.A. in 2013. What follows has an intensity that will lead you beyond the everyday into a mythology that is as disturbing as it is intriguing.
Each chapter starts from a different characters perspective, but it is easy to keep track of all the different strands of The Unnoticeables. The first perspective we meet in the book is actually unknown, they could be in any time and any place, as we follow the unravelling of who they once were. This character is the most informative in giving us a perspective on the philosophy and supernatural aspects of this story. Unknown gives us a better framework for what Kaitlyn and Carey face in their own times.
New York in 1977, Carey is living the life of a punk rocker, going to gigs, drinking as much beer as he can get his hands on and hoping that he will get laid as often as possible. Carey freely admits that he isn’t a great person; he is crass and seemingly uncaring for the hangers-on in his friendship group. At the same time though, when Carey is dragged into the fight of his life, he will fight against the people trying to kill his buzz.
Kaitlyn on the other hand lives in L.A. in 2013 and at first it is hard to see how Carey and Kaitlyn’s stories connect. Kaitlyn is a stuntwoman by trade, but is currently being overworked as a waitress while she looks for the gig that will feed her. Kaitlyn doesn’t fit in with the wannabes looking to get into show business unlike her friend Jackie who originally dragged her to L.A.; this is due to Kaitlyn not being good at networking.
In this reality God and Angels are not the forgiving forever loving beings that we believe them to be. These beings see humans as useful energy that once broken down to atoms keep the universe from entropy. Angels are the entities causing the rise of the monsters: Tar Men and Empty Ones that are at first glance unstoppable.
In 1977 Carey and his friends are just trying to have a good time, but eventually they start noticing that their friends and people on the street are disappearing. Carey sees himself as the leader of his gang and it is this group mentality that causes them to stand up and face the culprits by giving them a good kicking. The sections in 1977 are freakier than those in 2013; this is due to Carey and his friends all being in their teens and early twenties, which means they have a lot of attitude but not a lot of common sense. This allows for some comedic moments as their lives turn to hell.
Kaitlyn’s tale though is more intense than Carey’s in many ways. Kaitlyn’s story isn’t scary because she is a woman, she kicks serious arse during the course of The Unnoticeables, but unlike Carey she doesn’t have a large group of friends to work with which makes her story more immediate, when it takes a turn for the worse.
This is a book about the lost, the forgotten and the people who do not want to be found. The mythology of this book is really refreshing, knowing that although you aren’t alone, the things you think of angels are definitely not there to help you. The Unnoticeables has an anarchist spirit, with a lot of violence and yet this is a human struggle for survival. Why do the Angels choose certain people and certain times to make themselves known? My guess is that there is a certain vacuity between the New York Punk scene of the 70s and the L.A. of now, so many people swarming to large cities to end up becoming just another background figure in a scene. Robert Brockway’s The Unnoticeables is a pure adrenaline rush which drags you on an exhilarating ride.
Michelle Herbert
https://youtu.be/IWWtOQOZSTI?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published July 23, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
