I don't know about unfairly overlooked, but I think a lot of readers here would enjoy _Alone in the Ocean_ by Slava Kurilov. It's the story of a Soviet citizen

I don't know about unfairly overlooked, but I think a lot of readers here would enjoy _Alone in the Ocean_ by Slava Kurilov. It's the story of a Soviet citizen who defected by jumping off a "cruise to nowhere" ship and swimming to the Philippines.