Benjamin Leopold Haas was born in Charlotte , North Carolina in 1926. Mr. Haas stated in an interview that he inherited his love of books from his father, who would bid on hundreds of books at unclaimed freight auctions during the Depression. His imagination was also fired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction told by his grandmother, who had lived through both. “My father was a pioneer operator of motion picture theatres”, Ben wrote. “So, I had free access to every theatre in Charlotte and saw countless films growing up, hooked on the lore of our own South and the Old West.” Dreaming about being a writer, 18-year-old Ben Haas sold a story to a Western pulp magazine. He dropped out of college to support his family. He was self-educated. He served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. He made Raleigh his home in 1959. Ben and his wife had three sons, Joel, Michael and John. Ben held various jobs until 1961, when he was working for a steel company. He had submitted a manuscript to Beacon Books, and an offer for more came just as he was laid off at the steel company. He became a full-time writer for the rest of his life. Ben wrote every day, every night. “I tried to write 5000 words or more every day, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity”, Ben said. His son Joel later recalled, “My Mom learned to go to sleep to the sound of a typewriter”. His son John told me “It sounded like machine-gun fire coming out of his office”. Writing nonstop over the next 16 years, Ben Haas would create somewhere around 130 books under his own name and a dozen pen names.
North Carolina Author. Must give 5 stars to my relatives :). He passed around 1977, I was too young to know him. He's also written books under these pseudonyms: John Benteen, Thorne Douglas, Ben Elliott, Richard Meade, Quinn Reade, Jack Slade. I read this when I was a kid. This is a good war time/love story. You have an American man, who falls for an Austrian girl - who's father is a General. Her childhood friend turns Nazi.
When the power of Hitler rises during the Second World War, it echoes well in Austria as well. Nazis are rising and the House of Christina becomes a trap place for all three men, who with prolific madness crave for her. The House of Christina by Ben Haas is a terrific love story set amidst the mayhem of WWII. An American writer is confronted with Nazi-supporting thugs in Austria. He has to save Christa, his lover, from the vile clutches of Robert who once was her friend but now is so blind with the sway of Nazism that he even contemplates to kill her and others obstructing his political beliefs.
In questo libro ho trovato ciò che più gradisco. Amore, storia, vita familiare. Scritto bene, scorrevole e non troppo zuccherino. Finale...si sa già da subito.