Jon Fontaine's teenage years are shaped by his motivation to run a lucrative drug-selling enterprise. Despite the many tricks up his sleeve, the law catches up with him time after time. To escape a lengthy prison sentence, Jon bails out of jail and fakes his own death. He throws his jacket off a gorge, the pinnacle of a meticulously staged suicide. Police find the jacket and declare him dead, only to capture him later as a fugitive from justice.
Seven years after the ruse, Jon meets Susan, who is unaware of his criminal past. And he's keeping a secret: he's stolen a treasure of ancient gold and silver coins. He will never give away its location.
Jon sends Susan on a roller-coaster of love and fear, and exploits the weaknesses in the criminal justice system to work his biggest cons yet, ending in a trail of victims-and death.
A Jacket Off the Gorge peels back the layers of the criminal mind, revealing a fascinating look at one man's struggles within himself and with others. Jon's story raises questions about incarceration versus rehabilitation, lack of mental health treatment for offenders, and abuses by those we entrust to uphold the law.
