A man. A tiger. A tornado. Jared Montaine owns a big cat rescue in Florida and faces financial pressures, getting over his ex-wife, and the challenge of suburbia creeping ever closer to his enclave for the animals. But when a tornado wrecks part of the refuge, Jared's worst fear comes to life: his Siberian tiger, Sultan, escapes. It's a big cat handler’s nightmare: a tiger on the loose, confused, lost -- and hungry. Jared races against the police, the media, and the hysterical public, all of whom are clamoring for the tiger's hide. He must re-capture Sultan before the cat is killed -- by traffic, by SWAT, or by a civilian who just wants to shoot a tiger. With fellow wildlife handlers at his side, Jared fights desperately to find and capture Sultan before the tiger injures or kills a human. Because that would lead to his worst nightmare -- having to kill the tiger he hand-raised from a cub. Jared’s commitment is tested -- to his animals, his refuge, and his belief that saving the life of even one tiger is worth losing everything.

The Tiger Whisperer

“Oh, no, don’t! You keep it. No offense, but it looks like this place could use it. Here, take this for the toy.” She glanced around the site, eyeing the scruffy perimeter fencing that leaned in places, the trailers that needed paint, the overgrown vines crawled over some of the cage fences. A beat-up old truck with faded tiger stripes and jungle leaves was parked next to one of the trailers, its refuge logo chipped away. A thin layer of pine needles lay over the parking area but it wasn’t really covering the sand any longer. She tugged forty dollars from her purse. “Please.”


“I definitely won’t turn it down. Thank you. And tell your friends about us. Donations accepted anytime.”


Jared raised the meat cleaver and whacked it down on the butcher-block table. The cow leg split with a wet thunk. Droplets of blood and bits of flesh spattered on his sweaty shirt.


Chapter 3