The Contortionist's Handbook

John Dolan Vincent was born with an extra ring finger on one hand. He was an abnormally gifted child with a proclivity for mathematics beyond his years, but he lacked social skills. Childhood ridicule and a difficult family life led him to use his talents in adulthood for criminal acts of forgery. When he starts getting untreatable migraines, his self-medication results in overdosing which sends him repeatedly to the emergency room. There, he risks being institutionalized as suicidal, so he draws upon his forgery skills to reinvent a new identity for himself each time. Identity theft, drugs, and crime drag his life into a downward spiral. His clients in the L.A. underworld lose patience, the hospital evaluator might not be fooled by his story, and the only person in as much danger as himself is the woman who knows his real name.