Without a Trace

Product Information

Is this just a “one-off”, perhaps? I kind of hope so, but maybe I’m not a fan of Ms. Steel’s. I’m surprised though. Any thoughts, friends?❓ Without a Trace by Danielle Steel is a fast-moving romantic suspense set in France, about a man who decides to change his life after a near-fatal accident. Repetitive, silly, unrealistic, far-fetched and without giving away character or theme storyline’s, I keep saying, “there’s no way that person would do that”.

Without a Trace: A Novel: Steel, Danielle: 9781984821867 Without a Trace: A Novel: Steel, Danielle: 9781984821867

What would you do if your life was unhappy and you had a chance to disappear and start your life all over again? Charles Vincent learns the answer to that question when his car slides over an ocean cliff into the water. He survives, and finds his way to a country house where a lovely woman takes him in and helps him heal. Charles hates his job, is unhappy in his cold marriage, and wants nothing more than to move on in his life. Could this be his chance to just disappear?Charlie had been brought up to respect and achieve intellectual excellence, and his writer father was puzzled by his interest in “commerce.” Charlie’s mother had died when he was in college. She had been a gentle woman, a college professor at the Sorbonne and a poet laureate. None of that meant anything to Isabelle. She was familiar with her father’s relatively ruthless success. Her three sisters had married prominent men, but none as successful as Charlie had been for sixteen years, and she was proud to be his wife then, and infinitely less so once he was unemployed. This. Book. Is. Awful. I don't say that lightly. I try to be as fair as I can because I realize how hard it is to put a book out and let the world see a piece of your work. But some books should not be written or published and this is one of them. Steel has been skating by for at least 15 years being one of the top authors in the US and this book is a prime example. Why? Let me tell you. One evening Charlie leaves work, driving towards their Normandy chateau. He has been working late every night, is tired and isn't concentrating. Just an hour away from the chateau, his car veers off the road, down a cliff and into the sea. The accident should have killed him – he almost felt ready to die. But he escapes – and somehow finds the strength to climb to safety. Ill leave you with this food for thought... In the story, it has a way of giving you a perspective on what life could be like if you just decided to get up and walk away. So I ask you, "What would you do if you had the chance to start all over, but have your loved ones left behind without knowing where, when, or if you will return"? How can Ms. Steel write eight books in 2022 with another four lined up for very early 2023? I don't want to falsely accuse someone of using ghostwriters, but I cannot see how this is physically possible. I did like the book The Whittiers, which came out in November, and that is why I agreed to read the next two books, this one (published in January 2023) and Worthy Opponents, which I hope isn't as far-fetched as this book was.

Without a Trace | Random House Group Without a Trace | Random House Group

Geeezzz, …. If I would have had Charles’s life before his accident, I would have walked away too. Not quite in the way he did, but to each his own. The writing was good, Charles not so much. This was definitely a story of second chances. I loved the premise and the lesson it taught. I found it a tad dark, not one of the typical stories she tells. I think this would be a cool movie to watch. And the plot. More holes than Swiss cheese. That car accident would have caused more bodily damage to Charlie. Very convenient that he finds Aude, a young, beautiful single woman. And completely inconceivable that they fall into bed together in just a few hours of meeting. And fall in love and cue the violins. And then close the book and wonder yet again how Ms. Steel still has a publisher.Danielle I feel like stepped out of her comfort zone on this book, but it 100% was one of the best works I’ve read. Finished in one setting and definitely kept me intrigued from the absolute beginning…. I feel like doing the exact same thing this guy did sometimes!!! Without a Trace by Danielle Steel is a standalone novel. The story revolves around Charles Vincent, who is married, has two grown up successful children, and a high paying job; but he is currently trapped into an unhappy marriage. His wife (Isabelle) never works, spends money, enjoys being considered wealthy and lives a glamorous life. Charles had been in the publishing field, making very good money, until he quits his job, and money becomes an issue for two years, with Charles borrowing money from his wife’s father; his wife constantly threatening a divorce. Charles finally gets another job, making even more money, but he does not like the work and his boss.

Without A Trace: The gripping new story of a fight for Without A Trace: The gripping new story of a fight for

One night, Charles’s boss keeps him late, and when he drives along the coast to their lavish chateau for the weekend, he falls asleep at the wheel and goes over a cliff into the Ocean. Expecting his death during the fall, Charles manages to survive, and he is badly bruised as he desperately walks in the dark to find help. He comes across a cabin, where he meets a kind woman, Aude, who nurses his wounds, and allows him to rest and sleep in her cabin. In a very short period, Charles begins to discover the passions he never had, and both Aude and Charles fall in love. Being presumed dead, Charles realizes that he can choose to disappear and have a happy life with Aude. Everyone thinks he has died, with funeral services done, and lawyers working on his will. Charles will learn that Aude has some secrets of her past, that will threaten their lives. In the end, a point of honor unraveled Charlie’s career, as fast as his meteoric rise had catapulted him into publishing stardom before that. A small argument became a big one. It was about adding soft porn to their list for purely commercial reasons. The owner was for it, and Charlie opposed. The owner’s massive ego was challenged, and he hired an outsider over Charlie to control him, and force Charlie to endorse their position. What ensued were two years of battles, followed by a massive showdown, and a situation Charlie could no longer tolerate. They slowly squeezed him into a corner, and he had to either swallow his pride and give into them, or leave. He opted for the latter, after a bloody war. He quit in a blaze of pride and fury, and with the absolute certainty that he’d have no trouble finding a job he liked better, with a more reasonable owner at the helm, with values similar to his own.The publishing house where he had worked promoted someone from the internal ranks to take his place, make fewer waves, and do exactly what the owner wanted with no resistance. They opened a whole category of soft porn, which didn’t do as well as they’d hoped and had been sure it would. The business suffered as a result, and several of the big authors he had brought to them left when Charlie did, but for two years Charlie was out of a job. His world crumbled around him, and his personal life went with it. bookcommunity #bookobsessed #bookstagram #goodreads #goodreadschallenge2022 #ilovebooks #booknerdigans #currentlyreading #library If the plot wasn't bad enough, the characters of this book are just...I don't even know. First, they aren't likable. They don't read as real people. They're the same stereotypes Steel loves to use. Gorgeous young blonde. The icy older wife who is money hungry. Poor, put upon rich white guy. There wasn't a single character of substance in this book. Plus, the main character, Charles is a garbage human. Anyone who can let their children think he is dead for months is no hero. The fact that Steel thought she could make him the hero of this book shows how out of touch she is.

Without A Trace by Danielle Steel | Waterstones

Charles Vincent feels trapped in his treadmill of a life. He’s wealthy and successful doing a job he doesn’t want to do, in a marriage to a woman where the romance died many years ago. All that interests Isabelle is his money to fund her extravagant lifestyle. The children have left home and there is nothing for him to look forward to. Without a Trace is a moving tale of second chances and creating a life worth living from the Number One bestselling author, Danielle Steel. Long story short-he feigns his death until one day, his hotties ex-husband breaks out of jail (yep, in there for murder) and makes his presence known to them. So the husband decides to return from the dead and make things right with his family and his finances *snort* so he can spend the rest of his life with his young hottie.From #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, a powerful story about fighting for a chance at happiness--whatever the cost.