The Millionaire's Hothouse Summary and Analysis

John Laroche is introduced as being an eccentric person who is tall, skinny and handsome despite missing some of his front teeth. When he finds an interest, he does not merely admire the thing or subject, he becomes thoroughly obsessed with it. He has been this way his entire life, but until recently, he had been thoroughly obsessed with orchids. He considers himself a shrewd bastard and is essentially self-taught; he also considers himself to be one of the smartest people that he knows.

Susan reads about Laroche in a newspaper article and is intrigued when she sees the words "swamp," "orchids," "Seminoles," "cloning" and "criminal" together in one short piece. She decides to leave New York in the dead of winter to travel to sunny Florida to research more about the piece. She arrives in Naples...