Northern New Jersey Author James Irwin Launches Debut Suspense Novel
The international crime thriller Nina’s Friends blends murder mystery with Russian agents, art fraud, and biker wars
- Set in Copenhagen, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.
- Twisty plot, tightly written, full of untrustworthy characters
- Early months of the war in Ukraine serve as backdrop
WAYNE NJ, 25 March 2025 — Wayne NJ resident James Irwin has released his debut novel, Nina’s Friends, an international crime thriller set in Denmark and the United States. Married Russian undercover agents are brutally murdered in their Philadelphia townhouse. Was it a botched robbery? Or something more sinister?
This explosive murder mystery follows Dragan Markov, a disgraced former agent and the dead woman’s lover, as he pursues answers — and possibly revenge — for the killings. In Copenhagen he contends with a money launderer looking for an exit strategy, a fledgling domestic terrorist, a pansexual outlaw biker, and a beautiful colleague who wants nothing to do with him or his mission.
Dragan learns that sometimes the friends of your friend are your enemies. And sometimes your friend isn’t who you thought they were.
“The story is teeming with deceptions and bad behavior,” says Irwin, “and betrayal is a major theme. False fronts aren’t limited to the characters, however, but also include the locations. Enemies of America reside in both the gentility of Philadelphia’s Society Hill, and the calm of the upscale New Jersey shore town Stone Harbor. The tidy, congenial surface of Denmark hides significant xenophobia and a serious illicit drug economy ruled by motorcycle gangs.”
As the story unfolds, Dragan becomes increasingly entangled in a rat’s nest of criminal activities. Time is not on his side; he’ll soon become the scapegoat for the murders, unless whoever is tracking him through the side streets of Copenhagen assassinates him first.
Irwin, who the Los Angeles Times called “witty and ingenious,” was originally a filmmaker and media artist, and this instinct for the visual comes through in the book’s atmosphere and sense of place.
Early reader responses have been enthusiastic. “Irwin does a great job blending action with intrigue,” wrote one reader in their five-star review. “The story is full of twists, shadowy allies, and tense moments,” wrote another.
Nina’s Friends is published by Vague Apparatus Press and is available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and large print editions. The ebook is also available on Apple Books and Kobo.com. Please consider ordering through your local independent bookstore.
About James Irwin
Before he turned to writing fiction full-time, James Irwin was a media artist, educator, and journalist, as well as holding leadership roles in national and international marketing communications for companies such as Comcast, EY, and Deloitte. His awards include the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, National Endowment for the Humanities, Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He has published numerous short stories, essays, and creative non-fiction pieces over the years, and is associate editor of Atlantic Journal of Communication. He can be found at jrirwin.com
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CONTACT:
James Irwin, james.irwin@gmail.com, jrirwin.com
Review copies of Nina’s Friends available in ebook or PDF formats upon request.
James Irwin is available for interviews.
James Irwin press kit photos available at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EwgZRyzYf0P2B9UffquX_hjefBezLAo6?usp=sharing
Cover images of Lucky Guy and Nina’s Friends available at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1O0NFg6DcTwSHBwAIZc24Hbd1_eK4SkrR?usp=sharing