Fifty years ago, a man-made virus escaped from a laboratory, and spread throughout the world, turning half the population into human animal hybrids, known as Humebeasts. Society rules them to be dangerous, despite their intelligence and nature proven to be no more threatening or superior to their human counterparts.
Seventeen-year-old Humebeast Ziggy Coils wants to be a musician more than anything. The caretakers at his foster home always loved his voice, and music is the only thing that can calm his panic attacks.
But now he lives with his violent ex-con father who can't see past the vodka bottle, his school only teaches him how to fight, and his reptilian claws mean that he can't even pick up a fork. Forget playing an instrument.
Across town, twenty-something Frankie spends his nights keeping drunk troublemakers in line at a bar. His haunted past troubles him, but he finds peace by playing his bass guitar.
When Frankie and Ziggy meet each other, there's no love between them, but the music they play together soars. Finally, along with a drummer and a guitarist, they can imagine a future.
But at one of their live gigs, someone watches them from the shadows, waiting for the band to make it big. Waiting to finally have a chance at revenge.
As Frankie and Ziggy are pulled into an underworld of murder and rebellion, they must decide if their dream of becoming successful musicians, adored by all, is worth the violence that's broiling around them - even as their own animal instincts brew beneath the surface.
