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

David flipped through his papers. “Let me check my numbers here. You’ve got one hundred twenty six cats. Of those, over sixty are the smaller breeds; the civets, the servals, the jungle cats, the sand cats, the fishers, ocelots, bobcats. Twenty-eight lynxes, twelve cougars, six leopards, one Florida panther, eight jaguars, four lions, and two tigers. Have I got that right?”


“Yep. They’re called fishing cats by the way, not fishers.” Jared nodded, pleased that David had taken the time to research their facility. And that Leon, Little Steve’s son, was updating their website so efficiently. The teenager was thrilled to be their webmaster; after Juliana had left, Jared didn’t have the energy or interest to learn about maintaining a website. Other than a quick proofread to make sure Leon wasn’t lapsing into textspeak, Jared let Leon run it.


Chapter 5