The Escape Artist

From FBI fugitive to successful actor: The extraordinary reinvention of Ian Jarvis

When we see villains portrayed onscreen, we rarely think they have real criminal pasts. That is not the story of American character actor Ian Jarvis, whose later career included appearances across the Law & Order franchise and acclaimed independent productions. It’s a journey he divulges in his gritty new memoir, The Escape Artist (Armin Lear Press), a no-holds-barred account detailing his transformation from an “escape artist” evading the FBI across multiple countries to becoming a writer, actor, and radio host.

Opening on the drug revolution in Cincinnati, as seen by a group of college students-turned-addicts, The Escape Artist is ideal for fans of captivating, true-life stories that bare all.

Jarvis’ memoir is delivered in punchy chapters that keep you hooked at every turn, as he shares how he went from a regular Jewish boy from New Jersey to quitting Georgetown University in his junior year and crossing the country in a Chevy truck.

His backstory takes the reader on a fascinating journey: Jarvis works as a drug dealer, escapes half a dozen FBI agents at an airport, and lives eight years as a federal fugitive in Paris, London, Ibiza, Corsica, and Morocco. Turning thirty, he decides to return to the US, face the mess he left behind, and find a way back in pursuit of the American dream — sharing his search for redemption and the unlikely acting and writing career that followed, including work across television, theatre and independent film.

Told in Jarvis’ sharp, witty narrative voice, his adventures are breathtaking, dangerous, and inspiring. He socialises with Carl Bernstein, Robert F. Kennedy, Walter Chrysler, Chet Baker, and Amanda Rothschild, lives in Paris for three years with two escorts, and works for the King of Morocco.

In an era of media saturation, where we are so often presented with identical, sanitised stories, Jarvis’ memoir is a breath of fresh air. He cuts through with vulnerability, candidly sharing both the highs and lows.

In one account, on his return to America, he is selling Playboy shoes in Michigan when his nine-year-old daughter, two grades behind in her schooling, comes to live with him. To create the stability she has never known, Jarvis leverages a fake resume and fluent French to talk his way into his first serious job: an entry-level salesperson at Saint-Gobain in New York.

In a miraculous turn of events, Jarvis is named Vice President of the American division a mere eighteen months later and goes on to a highly successful career in the cosmetics industry.

Inspirational, though not in the traditional sense of the genre, this unconventional book is a deep dive into every shade of Jarvis’ character. It touches on the different forces loose on this planet that guide us, save us, and sometimes sink us. His uplifting story will touch many readers with its humanity.

At times funny, tragic, nail-biting and hopeful, Jarvis’ wildly improbable life is a classic example of “truth is stranger than fiction”. His unique storytelling style, high-energy shorthand, and fast, digestible chapters will ensure that readers are captivated from the very first page.

The Escape Artist is available on Amazon and at all good bookstores