Man Overboard

During World War II, a German agent landed in Canada from a U-boat. Curtis Parkinson has used this true historical event to tell a fast-paced, exciting story. Sixteen-year-old Scott and his friend Adam find summer jobs as deckhands on the Rapids Prince, a ship that plies the waters between the town of Prescott, on the St. Lawrence River, and Montreal. Scott overhears convincing information that a German agent is actually on board the boat. He has a good reason for not telling anybody, but his silence eventually leads him into more trouble than he can imagine, including a possible murder and a kidnapping. It is up to the boys to expose the agent in order to save the Rapids Prince and the innocent passengers on board. Curtis Parkinson has written an impossible-to-put-down novel that combines history with high adventure.

A mind boggling blend of fraud, deception, trickery, lies and fine-prime-rib, MAN OVERBOARD was nominated BEST TRUE CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR by the World Mystery Convention, and universally praised as the most laugh-filled book in the genre's history. 1982: Oregon businessman Phil Champagne died in a tragic boating accident off Lopez Island, Washington. He was survived by one ex-wife, four adult children, an octogenarian mother, and two despondent brothers. Phil didn't know he was dead until he read it in the newspaper. All things considered, it took it rather well. 1992: Washington State restaurateur, Harold Stegeman, famous for his thick juicy steaks, is arrested by the United States Secret Service for printing counterfeit hundred dollar bills in a tiny Idaho shed. In addition to the bogus bills, Stegeman has a fraudulently obtained United States passport, a fabricated Cayman Islands driver's license, and Phil Champagne's fingerprints.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Man Overboard!" by F. Marion Crawford. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Man Overboard tells the inside story of one of America's most notorious murder cases in decades, providing unprecedented insight into the death of Greenwich native George Allen Smith IV on his honeymoon. He married Jennifer Hagel in June 2005. Both of them were young and beautiful. He came from an old-line Greenwich family; she, from blue-collar Cromwell and with a reputation for being a flirt. Just eight days after their wedding, their new life together disintegrated on their Royal Caribbean honeymoon cruise. The morning after several booze-fueled melees, a gruesome blood stain traced the awning below their cabin, and George had vanished. After four years of bitter legal wrangling with both families, Royal Caribbean recently handed over its files to the FBI, which announced that Smith's murder is “very active and open.” Man Overboard provides an extraordinary look into a case that has captured the public imagination and raised provocative questions about the unregulated cruise industry, leading directly to the historic Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act signed by President Obama.

Roger McGeary, a brilliant software engineer, has gifted himself with an upscale cruise in honor of his fortieth birthday. When he falls to his death from the balcony of his stateroom suite, the incident is quickly declared a suicide. Only his maiden aunt, a tough-as-nails woman who runs a race horse refuge refuses to take case closed for an answer and turns to Ali Reynolds at High Noon Enterprises to look into the situation.

The true-crime story of one man’s life after his faked death, by the New York Times–bestselling author of Murder in the Family. 1982: Oregon businessman Phil Champagne, age 52, dies in a tragic boating accident off Lopez Island off the coast of Washington state. He is survived by one ex-wife, four adult children, an octogenarian mother, and two despondent brothers. Phil didn’t know he was dead until he read it in the paper. All things considered, he took it rather well. So did Phil’s brother, Mitch, the beneficiary of a 1.5 million dollar policy on Phil’s life. 1992: Washington restauranteur Harold Stegeman, famous for his thick, juicy steaks, is arrested by the Secret Service for printing counterfeit United States currency in an Idaho shed. In addition to the bogus bills, Stegeman also has a fraudulently obtained passport, a fabricated Cayman Island driver’s license, and Phil Champagne’s fingerprints. When the uproarious reality of Harold Stegeman’s secret identity hit the headlines, the counterfeit resurrection of Phil Champagne became one of the most celebrated and hysterically funny true-crime stories of the twentieth century. And while every supermarket tabloid and television talk show hounded after the untold story, only Edgar Award–winner Burl Barer captured Champagne’s confidence and received permission to detail Phil’s post-mortem career of fraud, deception, trickery, lies, and fine prime rib, bringing to life the exploits of a man his family thought dead over a decade ago. Includes bonus photographs, a police interrogation transcript, and an afterword by Phil Champagne Praise for Man Overboard “True crime at its best. . . . Barer has undeniable talent, pizzaz and imagination!” —Jack Olsen, New York Times–bestselling author of Son: A Psychopath and His Victims “Crisp as a freshly printed C-note. Exceptionally clever and vastly entertaining!” —Lee Goldberg, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Bone Canyon “Barer does it again! A deft and dazzling display of solid research and rapier wit—a must for all true crime aficionados.” —Gary C. King, author of Love, Lies, and Murder