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

He skidded past the mini-Burger King in the rear of the store. He slammed into an overdressed woman, felt hot liquid spill over the both of them, her mouth agape as she stared at him. The coffee burned him but he didn’t stop.


“You stupid sonofabitch, this is a Ralph Lauren!” she screeched and looked down at her sopping skirt.


“Sorry!” Jared called as he jogged away.


The two-story doorway at the back of the store was covered with heavy industrial plastic to keep out the weather and insects. It wavered heavily, shimmering in the air. Had Sultan just passed through and out of the store?


Outside, Peter, Valerie, and the befuddled Ricardo, camera on his shoulder, slipped into the garden center. Two store clerks stood at the register, talking, hands waving.


“Did you see the tiger?” Peter asked them.


“It went in the store,” the girl answered, her voice tremulous.


“Have you heard any gunshots?” Valerie asked.


Chapter 95