Dr James Ulrich is finally settled in retirement - or so he thinks. His wife June purchases a coffee shop and makes James manager - 'to help still his itchy feet, ' she claims. But the coffee shop comes with some encumbrances: June has gone into a business partnership with James' old nemesis, Shelley Hancock. And to add salt to the wound, she has employed her gaolbird brother Andrew, as a waiter. James is incensed by his wife's poor judgement. However, he agrees to manage the shop for a month on a trial basis. Strange and disturbing things start happening almost immediately. James' car is bombed, and he is shot at in the street. When he suspects that his attempted assassin is another one of his old nemeses, Roger Hamilton, James goes searching for Hamilton, only to be captured and taken prisoner by Hamilton's stepbrother, Slim. James soon discovers that he has been captured for reasons he could never have imagined: to help care for fifty illegally imported Burmese pythons that Hamilton has planned to kill for their skins and make himself a fortune. It soon becomes clear to James that there is a very strong criminal connection between the Hancocks, the Hamiltons, and the Burmese pythons. James is kept a prisoner whilst caring for the pythons, under the watchful eye of giant Negro known as Leroy. When Leroy starts feeding the pythons a taboo type of flesh, James is shocked and appalled. He is suddenly in fear of his own life. As the pythons grow older and larger they become more and more aggressive, and exceedingly dangerous to be around. James comes to love the pythons however, regarding them as his pets. He does everything in his power to try and prevent Slim and Leroy killing them for their skins. But the pythons have wills of their own. They decide who their friends and enemies are, and before long, human beings become hapless victims of the pythons' deadly death lock.