Phillip Thompson was born in Columbus, Mississippi. Writing from an early age, he graduated from Ole Miss with a degree in journalism, then was commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps. He served on active duty for 12 years as an artillery officer in California, Hawaii and aboard the USS Missouri and participated in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Since leaving the Marine Corps, he has worked as: a reporter and editor in Mississippi and Virginia; the managing editor of Marine Corps Times; a defense analyst; U.S. Senate aide; speechwriter for the Secretary of the Army, and communications consultant. The author of Enemy Within and Into the Storm: A U.S. Marine in the Persian Gulf War, his writing has been featured in newspapers and magazines across the Deep South and East Coast, including The Washington Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Civil War magazine.  Phillip Thompson is the author of Into the Storm: A U.S. Marine in the Persian Gulf War, Deep Blood and A Simple Murder.