Summer 1972 and twenty-three-year-old UC student Leah DeMartino is working at a race track north of Berkeley. She befriends a slightly older co-worker, beautiful Grace Neville. When Grace's body is found floating in San Francisco Bay, Leah's life takes an unsettling turn. She comes into contact with the fanatical but charismatic James Ferguson, head of Security for Oakland's Black Panther Party, and meets goodlooking and unpredictable Ronnie Xavier Jones, recently back from Vietnam. This story weaves together post-sixties Bay Area themes-the quest for human dignity on the part of African-Americans, the anger and rage of returning Vietnam vets who feel disrespected in their own country, the ambiguous role of the Oakland Police Department, and, above all, exciting new freedoms in love, sex and relationships.