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

The metal sign that had hung on his fence was on the ground, pretzeled into an impossible shape. The lockout cage was torn and in pieces. The entire front section of fencing was halfway down on the ground, twenty yards of twisted chain link. The angled fencing that had once protruded at a forty-five degree angle into the cage was smashed flat; it looked to be an easy climb out.


“Sultan! Sultan!” Jared could hear the alarm in his own voice. There was no response.


“If he’s hurt, he may not be able to come to us,” Peter said.


Absurdly in the middle of all the destruction, the cage door stood intact.


Peter grabbed his arm, too hard, and Jared winced. “Sorry. Don’t go in there alone, Jared. Even if he’s not hurt, he’s probably scared. And he might hurt you.”


“I don’t think he’d come after me.”


Chapter 21