Brian C. Thompson

Brian C. Thompson didn't set out to write a novel. He set out to tell his great-uncle's story.

Frederick J. Gibson — "Uncle Gibby" — flew P-38 Lightnings, P-39 Airacobras, P-51 Mustangs, and C-47s across the Pacific theater of World War II. He earned the Bronze Star, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, a Presidential Unit Citation, and ground combat credit at Iwo Jima. He was a member of the Tokyo Club. He rose to Lieutenant Colonel. And for decades after the war, he sat at family gatherings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and told stories that the people listening knew they would never forget.

Brian was one of those people.

Those stories became the seed of The American War — a five-book alternate history series asking the question that every student of World War II eventually asks: what if America had seen it coming? The series begins at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, where the Japanese fleet finds a trap instead of a sleeping fleet, and follows the war that unfolds from that single changed moment across five books and five years of fighting.

The protagonist, fighter pilot Jack Gibson, carries Uncle Gibby's name, his aircraft, and the moral weight of a man who understood that skill and courage were not the same thing as survival — and that survival was not the same thing as winning.

Brian holds a degree in History from Southern Methodist University and spent five years researching The American War before writing the first word of Book 1. The research drew on military archives, oral histories, technical manuals, aircraft performance data, and the accumulated knowledge of a lifetime spent absorbing the war through the stories of family members who served. His father, 1st Lieutenant Lawrence Daniel Thompson — "Our Lt. Dan" — is still living, and his influence runs through every page.

Brian lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with his wife, his kids, and a dog named Voodoo. He is an avid sports fan, a dedicated traveler, and the kind of person who considers knowing the difference between a P-38E and a P-38F to be useful dinner party knowledge.

A Date with Infamy, Book 1 of The American War, is available now. The Gathering Storm is coming soon.

Brian C. Thompson grew up listening to his great-uncle Frederick J. Gibson tell stories about flying P-38 Lightnings across the Pacific in World War II. Uncle Gibby earned the Bronze Star, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and ground combat credit at Iwo Jima. He never stopped talking about the war. Brian never stopped listening.

Those stories became The American War — a five-book alternate history series beginning at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, where the Japanese fleet finds a trap instead of a sleeping fleet. The series protagonist, fighter pilot Jack Gibson, carries Uncle Gibby's name and his aircraft.

Brian holds a History degree from SMU and spent five years researching the series before writing the first word. He lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with his wife, kids, and a dog named Voodoo.