The Wartmann Series 

The Iran War was Foretold.

North Arrow Press proudly presents The Wartmann Series, a pair of timely, high-stakes geopolitical thrillers by Kirkus-starred author Mark James.

🟠 Friendship Games — The spark of war
Winner of a Kirkus Star and a Bronze Medal from the Military Writers Society of America, Friendship Games is a modern take on the USS Maine incident that launched the Spanish-American War — except this time the spark threatens to ignite a global conflict.

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When a U.S. aircraft carrier explodes and sinks off Bahrain, Washington blames Tehran. Retaliatory American airstrikes follow, and Iran — fearing an existential war with the United States — responds with a desperate preemptive blitz across the Gulf. In Washington, Vice President George "Daddy Longlegs" Wartmann scrambles to respond while the chain of command falters and soldiers, sailors, and civilians on the ground struggle to survive the chaos.

🔵 The Compass Room — The aftermath of war
Praised by Kirkus Reviews as "an exciting continuation of this political thriller series" and by BookLife (Publishers Weekly) as "a gripping political drama of ambition, loyalty, and geopolitical collapse," The Compass Room carries the Wartmann story into darker, more volatile territory. In the aftermath of disaster, Vice President George "Daddy Longlegs" Wartmann fights to hold a fractured nation together as political polarization deepens, unrest spreads at home and abroad, and rival powers move to exploit American weakness. Intellectually engaging and relentlessly paced, this high-stakes geopolitical thriller blends military strategy, diplomacy, and suspense in a world where the old order is breaking down.

⚫ Alter Road — A Wartmann Universe Story of an America on the brink
Mark James's debut novel, Alter Road is a stand-alone Wartmann Universe story set against the collapse of Detroit and the unraveling of America itself. As protests spiral into revolt, refugees flee to Canada, militias seize rural roads, and the U.S. Army enters a city sliding into urban warfare, local gang conflicts collide with national crisis and global opportunism. Gritty, violent, and sharply political, Alter Road traces America's fracture at home while forces far beyond Michigan prepare to exploit the chaos — ending where Friendship Games begins.

Together, Friendship Games and The Compass Room form The Wartmann Series — thrillers that explore how fragile peace can be when geopolitics, ambition, and fear collide.

All three novels are available now on Amazon in paperback and Kindle, free to read in Kindle Unlimited, and also available to bookstores and libraries through Ingram.