"A nail-biter from beginning to end. A talented writer, Mr. James paints vivid pictures of characters such as Daddy Longlegs, Vice President of the United States, and Hash Ghavam, an Iranian admiral, in an all too real scenario of World War III, Author James is skilled in his descriptions of desert warfare ... With non-stop action, this book is hard to put down."—Military Writers Society of America (Bronze Medal Award)

"A masterful geo-political thriller… Captivating and intellectually stimulating, Friendship Games is not to be missed."—Maincrest Media

The Persian Gulf erupts. When a U.S. aircraft carrier explodes and sinks off Bahrain, Washington blames Tehran. Hours later, Iranian-backed militants strike the U.S. Navy base in Manama and the Bahraini royal palace. Retaliatory American airstrikes follow, pushing the region toward all-out war.

Friendship Games is a modern take on the USS Maine incident that launched the Spanish-American War in 1898—except this time the spark threatens to ignite a global conflict. Facing what it believes is an existential threat, Iran unleashes a desperate preemptive blitz: missiles rain down on U.S. bases, and armored columns surge into neighboring states to deny America a foothold for invasion.

Caught in the storm are U.S. Navy SEALs and a young sailor, Thew Bryson, forced into a desperate fight for survival as they flee across borders with Iranian forces closing in. In Washington, Vice President George "Daddy Longlegs" Wartmann maneuvers through a collapsing chain of command, determined to see the fight through while the President hesitates.

From the palaces of the Gulf to the corridors of Washington to soldiers on the ground, Friendship Games is a taut, unflinching geopolitical thriller—where one misstep could set the world ablaze.