Browne was born in California, but at the age of eleven, moved with his family to Honolulu, Hawaii. After discovering the work of Donald Westlake, Browne set his sights on becoming a writer and at seventeen wrote 130 pages of a comedy mystery novel that quickly found a home in a box in his closet. Browne soon got the bug to write for television and tried his hand at writing speculative episodes of The Rockford Files and Harry O, among others. Unfortunately, none of these scripts were ever purchased and Browne found himself sidetracked by a desire to write and perform music.

In 1990, Browne took up writing again and completed a feature length screenplay, which he entered into the Don and Gee Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship competition. The program is sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and is designed to give aspiring screenwriters a way into the film industry. Browne was one of five winners that year and received a twenty thousand dollar grant for his screenplay, Low Tide. Several weeks after winning, that screenplay sold to Showtime and was slated to be produced by the network. Unfortunately, after two years of "development hell," the executives overseeing production left the network and the screenplay was put into turnaround.

Browne continued working in Hollywood for many years, but did not find the success he was hoping for. Then, after an email exchange with producer-writer Larry Brody, Browne was soon hired by Saban/Fox Kids as a staff writer for the animated show, Diabolik, based on the famed Italian comic book. He and Brody later worked together on the Marvel production, Spider-Man Unlimited.

A pilot was ordered by CBS on February 2, 2010, for ATF, a potential television drama series based on Browne's first novel, Kiss Her Goodbye.

In 2005, after being taken on as a client by Trident Media Group, Browne's first novel, Kiss Her Goodbye, promptly sold to St. Martin's Press. St. Martin's subsequently published three more novels, Whisper in the Dark (which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly), Kill Her Again, and Down Among the Dead Men (published May 2010).

Browne created the website Casting the Bones for aspiring writers. He also shares his thoughts on writing and publishing on the Anthony nominated blog, Murderati.