Riot: A 1960s Love Story

Two young lovers find each other just as the Vietnam War, the Antiwar Movement, and the Black Power Movement near their explosive peaks. Excitement, danger and heartache lie ahead.It’s September 1967. Steve Harris - white, idealistic, naive – begins his freshman year. During that year, he will fight to end the war, fall in love, confront painful truths about his family, and be jailed and beaten by police. Through this crucible, he emerges with a transformed consciousness, of the world and of himself.His awakening begins with a rousing antiwar speech delivered by Emma Gold, a Depression-era radical. When Emma introduces him to young Cat Crawford – inter-racial, brilliant and exotically beautiful - his bewitching is complete. The two students’ instant friendship blossoms before long into a passionate love affair. Their bond is tested, though, by the mounting demands of the times, and by their own deep-seated psychological issues.

1968 is marked by campus unrest, urban rebellion, assassinations, and political violence that leads the two into clashes with the Chicago Police and the National Guard. The story builds to a heartrending climax during the street battles surrounding the Democratic National Convention.

This is a complex, fast-paced journey on an emotional roller coaster, punctuated by flashes of self-discovery, and bursting with political and sexual passions.

A deftly crafted and complexly layered novel of immense passion and divisive politics that is a quite accurate portrayal of the events and issues backgrounding this emotionally dazzling story from beginning to end, Riot: A 1960s Love Story establishes author Charles S. Isaacs as a truly extraordinary and gifted novelist. Very highly recommended.

– Midwest Book Review