In Russia, everything has a price.

In Far East Siberia, Russia, a sense of independence from the central government prevailed, even under harsh Communist rule. Now, with the nation in political turmoil, poachers operate in brazen defiance of the law. Their targets—rare Siberian tigers—fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market.

American biologist Chris Harmon is part of a joint Russian-American research team investigating the tigers' survival in the Sikhote-Alin preserve. Harmon's recent discovery of a tiger and her three young cubs is threatened by a politician's lucrative thirty-year logging contract, which could destroy their habitat. His petition to oppose the deal is dismissed, but Harmon's efforts to protect the endangered animals are getting someone's attention.

Former KGB hit man Sergei Lemenov is a dangerous man, not just a hunter of unusual animals, but of men too. He saves a piece of each of his victims—man or beast—giving him the gruesome nickname, The Collector. He's been ordered to obtain the tigers and to silence Harmon, permanently. Now, Harmon must navigate a labyrinth of bureaucratic red tape, ruthless Communist sympathizers, and a complicated international trafficking ring to save the tigers, and himself.