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

Peter stepped over. “I can finish the rest, boss.”


“Thanks. Let me change here and we’ll go feed Sultan. Give you an up close look at a carnivore in action.” He stepped over to the triple sink, and tugged off his shirt and gloves, then started washing down his arms and chest with care.


“Is that scar from an attack?” David asked.


Jared soaped off his left bicep; it had two long furrows of raised scar tissue. “Nah, this one was just clumsiness. An ocelot was playing in a tree above me, got too confident and fell on me. He clawed me all the way down.” Jared lifted his arm to show where the claw marks continued down his left side, dipping into his jeans. “Messy but not fatal.”


Chapter 4