Used. Paperback. Set in the frostbitten fringes of Russia’s Far East, John Vaillant’s *The Tiger* turns a real-life creature feature into a chilling, cerebral collision between man and apex predator. When an injured, starving Amur tiger starts stalking humans with an eerie, calculated precision that looks uncomfortably like revenge, a squad of trackers is sent into the taiga to stop the carnage before they become the next course. Part gripping wilderness noir and part vivid natural history, it digs deep into the desperate economics of poaching and the psyche of an animal that is very clearly not a pet. It’s a masterclass in tension that will make you double-check the locks, even if the nearest big cat is safely behind glass at the local zoo.