Книга: Dale Brown «Starfire»

Dale Brown (born November 2, 1956) is an American author and aviator, most famous for his aviation techno-thriller novels, with thirteen New York Times best sellers to his name.

Brown was born in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History, and later received a commission in the United States Air Force in 1978.

A navigator-bombardier in the G-model B-52 Stratofortress and the FB-111, he is the recipient of 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.^[1]He is also a Life Member of the Air Force Association and the U.S. Naval Institute. After leaving the Air Force in 1986 he wrote his first book, Flight of the Old Dog. His novels are published in eleven languages and distributed to over seventy countries. He published 11 bestsellers in 11 years.^[2]

Brown is represented by Madison Avenue literary agent Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group. Gottlieb is best known as the agent that discovered Tom Clancy, and who now represents Deepak Chopra, Ralph Peters, James Wesley Rawles, Neale Donald Walsch and the estate of Isaac Asimov.^[3]

Brown, his wife Diane, and son Hunter, live near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He enjoys flying his own private jet, a Grumman Gulfstream II; on the ground, he enjoys tennis, skiing, scuba diving, and ice hockey.

Bibliography

Note on Books

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, though 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 re-appeared in Battle Born and were merged into the Dreamland and McLanahan series.
• Hammerheads, which features Admiral Ian Hardcastle, was also a separate series, with McLanahan and other Dreamland characters mainly doing cameos. Hardcastle later reappeared in Storming Heaven.
• The Dreamland series co-authored 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.

As sole author

Patrick McLanahan Series

• 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 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 strike team on the Soviet laser forces the Old Dog crew to take the mission 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 U.S. 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.
• Shadows of Steel (1996) - In May 1997, the US initiates a covert action to stop Iran's plans to use its new carrier task force in controlling the Persian Gulf sea lanes. Humiliated by the fiasco depicted in Day of the Cheetah, now-restaurateur Patrick McLanahan is recalled to active duty to fly a B-2 mission over Iran.
• Fatal Terrain (1997) - Set a month after the ending of Shadows of Steel, Taiwan's declaration of independence forces China to go to war. The Old Dog crew is brought back to save the world from Chinese domination, but not everyone can come home alive.
• The Tin Man (1998) - A few months after the events of Fatal Terrain, Patrick McLanahan faces a new enemy, right in his home turf in Sacramento, California. The novel also introduces his brother, Sacramento police officer Paul McLanahan.
• Battle Born (1999) - In 2000, McLanahan is assigned to turn a group of Air Guard B-1 pilots into America's premier tactical air strike force. A new threat created by a sudden reunification of the Korean peninsula hastens the training.
• Warrior Class (2001) - Set in 2001, Russian billionaire Pavel Kazakov builds a huge pipeline through the Balkans with the support of the Russian Army and everybody gets rich. And as for those who will not yield, he will order his secret stealth fighter-bomber to destroy them. However, a new US president and his brand of leadership tie McLanahan's hands from doing anything about Kazakov.
• Wings of Fire (2002) - When Libya plots to invade and control Egypt, McLanahan and his advanced force, the Night Stalkers, are sent in to stop the chaos. However, the consequences are personal for his family.
• Air Battle Force (2003) - Patrick McLanahan takes modern aerial warfare into Turkmenistan to fight a ragtag Taliban army and later a Russian invasion. The humiliation forces Russian General Anatoly Gryzlov to launch a coup, especially after McLanahan's forces level the Russian Air Force's strategic bomber base in Engels.
• Plan of Attack (2004) - Out of revenge for what happened in Air Battle Force, General Gryzlov orders a nuclear bomber strike into the United States, eliminating nearly all of its land-based strategic forces. Demoted to brigadier general and reassigned off the Air Battle Force after defying one order too many in Turkmenistan, McLanahan tries to convince the Air Force leadership about the threat. When the Russians attack, he and the rest of the Dreamland crew take matters into their own hands to save what is left of America.
• Strike Force (2007) - Three years after the events of Plan of Attack, now-Lieutenant General McLanahan uses new XR-A9 Black Stallion spaceplanes to intervene during a new crisis in Iran, where Shadows of Steel antagonist General Hesarak al-Buzhazi has launched a rebellion against the fundamentalist regime.
• Shadow Command (2008) - Set in 2009, the novel pits McLanahan and his team against a new US president, Joseph Gardner, who connives with Russia to take him down.
• Rogue Forces (2009) - Reverting to the private sector, Patrick McLanahan and former President Kevin Martindale operate their own PMC, Scion Aviation International. Their latest contract: stabilizing Iraq as US forces withdraw from the country. However, Kurdish raids into Turkey force Ankara to unleash its arsenal of former US aircraft against the rebels and McLanahan's team is caught in the crossfire.
• Executive Intent (2010) - A new crisis emerges as America unveils its new orbital weapon, the Thor's Hammer, with China and Russia responding by gaining control of the seas. McLanahan must join forces with Brigadier General Kai Raydon to prevent WWIII. Meanwhile, a jaded Vice President Phoenix begins to challenge and question President Gardner's decisions and policies.
• A Time For Patriots (2011) - When the nation's economy collapses and thousands of Americans turn against their own government, Patrick McLanahan must enlist the aid of his son and fellow citizens to hunt down terrorists any way they can.

Act of War Series

• Act of War - Kingman Group is the largest energy producer in the world, and when the terrorist group GAMMA managed to nuke the Kingman Texas facility, US is forced to create a brand-new force to combat terrorism: Task Force Talon. Using the latest technology such as wearable exoskeleton/armor, the force made up of cutting-edge technology and law-enforcement / military hybrid command thought its tasks were clear: find the terrorists, and eliminate them, no matter where. However, they did not realize one of their closest allies may not turn out to be as friendly as they thought...
• Edge of Battle (2006) - Violence and tensions along the U.S.-Mexican border have never been higher, sparked by battles between rival drug lords and an increased flow of illegal migrants. To combat the threat, the U.S. has executed Operation Rampart: a controversial test base in southern California run by Major Jason Richter and members of Task Force TALON.

Independent Series

• Silver Tower (1988) - In the then-future of 1992, the US military space station Armstrong, is activated. When the USSR invades Iran and threatens the Persian Gulf, the station crew fight to keep American supremacy in space.
• Hammerheads (1990) - The US activates the new Border Security Force as part of efforts to stop drug smuggling operations handled by the Cuban military.
• Chains of Command (1993) - A fledgling Air Force Reserves unit led by the Air Force's first female combat pilot spearheads the US response to a Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
• Storming Heaven (1994) - Admiral Ian Hardcastle must set up an air defense network inside the United States to stop an aerial terrorist from attacking the largest US airports and Washington, DC itself.

Short Stories

• Leadership Material (2001) - Set in the post-Desert Storm Arabian Peninsula in March 1991, then-Major McLanahan flies with the Old Dog crew in combating an Iranian Blackjack-E, an advanced version of the TU-160 Blackjack bomber that was reportedly based on the Megafortress. Meanwhile, back in the US, Norman Weir, a USAF colonel on the promotions board, reviews McLanahan's service record as a candidate for lieutenant colonel and recommends his discharge. However, the US president orders Weir to destroy the discharge form, saying that McLanahan has proven himself as an officer (without elaborating further). The story was Brown's contribution to Stephen Coonts' Combat war stories anthology. It has peripheral references to Hammerheads and Sky Masters (although a canonical error).

Collaborations

Dale Brown's Dreamland (with Jim DeFelice)

• Dreamland (2001)
• Nerve Center (2002)
• Razor's Edge (2002)
• Piranha (2003)
• Strike Zone (2004)
• Armageddon (2004)
• Satan's Tail (2005)
• End Game (2006)
• Retribution (2007)
• Revolution (October 28, 2008)
• Whiplash (2009)
• Black Wolf (2010)
• Raven Strike (November 29, 2011)

Tax fraud

In April 2004, Brown pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud. Brown was charged with creating companies in the West Indies for the purposes of receiving tax deductions from fictitious expenses. The fictitious expenses amounted to more than $440,000, which Brown claimed on his 1998 income tax filing. He then used the tax deductions to remodel his home.^[4]

See also

• Biography portal
• United States Air Force portal

References

External links

Official website

• Google Books Lookup
• Dale Brown's Audio Books