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

Unlike on his private tour with Peter on Monday morning, Jared wasn’t narrating. The buzz of a table saw came from the front of the refuge, irritating and out of place. David noticed several empty cages as they moved on the pine needle pathways.


He lost a lot of cats, not just Sultan.


It bothered him, but he couldn’t get caught up too closely in the story; he had to maintain a professional distance.


Some cages were still a mess. Chain link was twisted on the ground; fence posts were flattened into the dirt. A half dozen pine trees lay splintered on the east side of the refuge bleeding sap and chunks of bark.


They moved to the back of the refuge and faced Tasha’s empty cage. The door to her lockout area was wide open. Jared’s fingers traced her name on the sign at the cage front. Jared’s voice was naturally deep, but now it was thick with emotion. “Remember that video I showed you?”


Chapter 63