W. Joseph O'Connell is an American author who lives in Texas. He graduated from Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, in 1987. After high school he joined the U.S. Navy as a journalist, serving at duty stations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Argentia, Newfoundland; and aboard the USS Mount Whitney at Norfolk, Virginia. After a 5-year enlistment in the Navy, he worked as a newspaper reporter in Texas until joining the U.S. Army in 2006. He served as an armor crewman with the 3rd Infantry Division during The Surge into Baghdad from 2007-08, and with the 1st Cavalry Division in Kirkuk, Iraq in 2010-11. His favorite current writers include Bret Easton Ellis and Nelson DeMille.