Gentrification, all dressed in black and white, takes center stage in Nathan McCall’s debut novel, Them. And the spotlight is operated from the scaffolding by a paranoid yet laid-back protagonist named Barlowe Reed, who’s unwilling to shine it in the direction of those shuffling in from the wings. “They” are moving into his historically black neighborhood, and he doesn’t trust “them.”

All of which should give you a sense of the nuance McCall is working with here. Things begin in Barlowe’s car as he’s driving to the post office on Tax Day, with a mission to file at the last possible moment. When the vending machine runs out of the African-American–themed stamps he desires and he’s forced to select tiny American flags, he gets pissed—pissed enough to punch the machine until the glass shatters. He goes to jail, gets thrown to the curb by his girlfriend, which gives the 40-year-old a mission: to become a property owner in the Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta. Problem is, more and more white people are showing up to do the same thing. Barlowe forms an unlikely friendship with his new white neighbor, Sandy, and they both teach each other lessons about acceptance and perceptions.

For a story that takes place in the present day, we had to keep reminding ourselves it takes place in the present day.

McCall can certainly paint a nice picture of a neighborhood going through the gentrification two-step, but his canvas isn’t hung on any wall built this decade. Aside from one reference to R. Kelly and a few to September 11, the story could easily have taken place in the ’60s or ’70s with the author’s generic (read: frustrating) references to the national scene. The writing comes across as dated rather than timeless. McCall came on strong in 1995 with his raw memoir, Makes Me Wanna Holler, but his first novel makes us want to holler for all the wrong reasons.