Dale Brown (born November 2, 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been New York Times Best Sellers.
Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and was one of six children. At 15, he began flying instruction, eventually earning a private pilot's license. He graduated in 1978 from Penn State University with a degree in Western European history.
Brown joined the Air Force ROTC while in college. He received a commission in the United States Air Force in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier (now known as a weapon systems officer (WSO)) in the B-52G Stratofortress long-range heavy bomber and the FB-111A Aardvark medium range fighter-bomber.
Brown received several military decorations and awards, including the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. He rose to the rank of Captain and has 2,500 hours of flight time in B-52s.
He left the Air Force in 1986, having never seen combat. He is a Life Member of the Air Force Association and the U.S. Naval Institute.
Brown's first paid writing was a review of Fort Apocalypse for Compute!'s Gazette. In 1986, while still in the Air Force at Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento County, California, he wrote his first book, Flight of the Old Dog. His novels have been published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. He published 11 bestsellers in 11 years.
Brown has been represented by literary agent Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.
Brown tends to stay with the same characters over a long period of time. Many of the characters introduced in Flight of the Old Dog are still around for the latest, although a few have been killed in previous books. Most of his books occur in the same timeline, with a few exceptions.
Silver Tower, published after Flight of the Old Dog, a mostly independent novel with no character references, is first linked by mention of the SkyBolt module in Battle Born. However, the novel is merged into the Patrick McLanahan saga when some of its main characters and the fictional military space station Armstrong appear in Strike Force.
Chains of Command, which features Rebecca Furness and Darren Mace, was actually a separate series, but later, the characters reappeared in Battle Born and were merged into the Dreamland and McLanahan series.
Hammerheads focuses on Admiral Ian Hardcastle, who later reappeared in Storming Heaven. However, the book can be part of the overall Patrick McLanahan continuity because of his and General Elliott's appearances, plus the book taking place over two years since the events of Flight of the Old Dog (which is referred to in passing).
The Dreamland series coauthored with Jim DeFelice covers the gaps between the Patrick McLanahan series novels. While most of the old characters are only mentioned in passing, some of the technology depicted in the series was later merged into the main series, starting with Air Battle Force.
Henri Cazaux, the main villain of Storming Heaven, was referred to in The Tin Man. His own right-hand man, Gregory Townsend, would be the book's main antagonist.
Brown's novels mostly center on a character named Patrick McLanahan, whose exploits as a US Air Force officer date back over 25 years.
Flight of the Old Dog (1987): A Soviet anti-ballistic missile laser destroys US strategic assets while the Kremlin argues the system's legality before the UN. USAF Lieutenant General Bradley Elliott recruits a team of officers to work on a modified B-52 bomber, called the Old Dog. A raid on Dreamland, itself coupled by the discovery of a B-1 Lancer strike team on the Soviet laser, forces the Old Dog crew to take the mission on themselves. In a heroic act, crewmember David Luger risks his life to save the bomber from destruction.
Sky Masters (1991): The pullout of US forces from the Philippines in 1994 sparks Chinese plans to occupy the Spratly Islands and Mindanao with the connivance of a Filipino Communist vice-president who declares a coup. McLanahan and the heavy bombers of the US Air Battle Force lead the American counterattack over Davao City. The novel also has a small cameo appearance by Day of the Cheetah antagonist Kenneth Francis James.
Night of the Hawk (1992): A simple defector extraction raid in Lithuania in late 1992 uncovers evidence that a member of the Old Dog crew, David Luger, survived the events of Flight of the Old Dog and was brainwashed to work on a new stealth bomber at a secret facility in Vilnius. Amidst the political upheaval in the country, General Elliott, McLanahan, and John Ormack join a US Marine contingent in assaulting the facility and rescuing Luger.
Day of the Cheetah (1989): In 1996, Kenneth Francis James—a Soviet deep-cover agent posing as a USAF officer—steals the new Dreamstar thought-controlled fighter. McLanahan and the High-Technology Aerospace Weapons Center scramble to recover it from James, or destroy it if necessary.