The remarkable, true story of Nicolas Cordoba's desperate journey to reach American soil by stowing away in the rudder trunk of on oil tanker begins with his adolescence in Colombia. A prisoner of poverty, he develops one ingenious scheme after another to survive on the mean streets of destitution. When a daring way out occurs to him, Nicolas intrepidly executes his dangerous plan.

But little does he know that the tanker he chooses is headed for the frigid waters of New York Harbor instead of balmy Miami. After having braved cold, hunger and the blades of the propeller, the luckless stowaway is discovered by police scuba divers. But when he is arrested, the charge is for a much greater crime than illegal immigration.

The dream of reaching the United States becomes a nightmare as the memoir follows Nicolas' progress through the American system of justice, and the onslaught of media headlines.