It’s early December 2014, and at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, an unusual gathering is taking place. It’s the final night of Midwest Furfest, the world’s largest convention for a subculture known as Furries.

The party is in full swing when, just after midnight, attendees suddenly find themselves struggling to breathe. Something terrible has happened: poisonous levels of chlorine gas are sweeping through the hotel corridors.

Nineteen people are hospitalized and hundreds are evacuated into the freezing cold, many still wearing their colorful anthropomorphic animal costumes, or fursuits. Hazmat teams trace the gas to a stairwell, where they find the remains of a chemical bomb. This was an intentional attack.

But almost a decade later, the identity of the perpetrator remains a mystery. In Fur & Loathing, investigative reporter Nicky Woolf takes on the unsolved case, working closely with Furries to find answers. It’s a journey that will bring him face-to-face with the challenges this vibrant, often misunderstood subculture faces – including the far-right extremists looking to wreck the community from within.

An agent in the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists.

Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.