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

At 6:30 he gave up, tired of juggling the growing expenses against the reduced income. His head hurt. He wanted dinner and some beer. 3


Inside his trailer, he smoothed Molly’s drawing on top of the others on his refrigerator, fingering it softly for a moment. It stood out from the pizza coupons and take-out menus. He grabbed two Stouffer’s frozen dinners from the freezer and nuked them. He looked around the shabby rooms.


I should straighten up some before Roscoe gets here.


His trailer was furnished with cast-offs. A scruffy sofa, his father’s old recliner, and a television dominated the small living room. The orange shag carpeting was left over from the seventies. The kitchen floor was worn from too many scrubbings when he and Juliana had kept cubs barricaded there; the cabinets were both chewed and clawed.


Chapter 11