Without a Trace

Product Information

A thought-provoking and moving story of second chances and living the best life from the world's favourite storyteller, Danielle Steel. What would happen if you were given a chance to walk away from everything in your life and start over with a blank slate, and you had a split second to decide? Charles Vincent seems to have it all—a beautiful wife, two successful children, and a well-paying career. Other recent bestsellers include Finding Ashley, The Affair, Neighbors, All that Glitters, Expect a Miracle, Royal, and Daddy’s Girls, all of which have leapt to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, the Wall Street Journal list, and comparable best seller lists around the world.

Steel has written more than 196 books, 168 of which are novels; 18 children’s books, including Pretty Minnie in Hollywood and Pretty Minnie in Paris about her white long-hair teacup Chihuahua; four works of nonfiction, including His Bright Light: The Story of Nick Traina, A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless, and Pure Joy: The Dogs We Love; a book of poetry; and she has written the lyrics for a music album. Steel needs to spend more energy writing one well-written solid story instead of releasing 8 or 9 in one year that aren't worth a toot. Not long later we discover she is a victim of domestic violence and her ex-husband is in prison for murdering her last boyfriend eight years before.While he is gone, the cabin ladies ex-husband comes back, ties her up and puts her in the trunk and drives to a different cabin. Steel creates flat and boring characters and them proceeds, with her usual endless repetitive writing, to tell us everything. Still, at his core, he is an honorable man, and he must decide whether or not he can vanish forever, leaving everything behind—and everyone, including his family—or if he will rise from the dead and follow his heart. 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.

Then, one night as the money-grubber is having a party in their fancy chateau, he falls asleep at the wheel as he is coming home and drives off of a cliff into the ocean. Feeling stuck in a stressful job and a loveless marriage, Charlie Vincent's life feels stagnate until turning upside down after a car crash.She ingulfs you right away with an amazing detailed background of the main characters, setting in which the story will take place, and their history and life together; as well as, the perfect introduction to the plot of the story before the climax.

But Aude has secrets of her own, and before long their pasts catch up to them, threatening everything they have fought to build.But the last four years or so, she has steadily lost her appeal -- and this latest effort is the worst ever. The gist of the story- The husband hates his job, quits his career is out of work for two years and takes a loan from the money-grubbing wife's father. Without a Trace is a moving tale of second chances and creating a life worth living, from the billion copy bestseller, Danielle Steel. Their connection is instant, and as she nurses him back to health, Charles begins to discover the passion he’s been missing for so many years.

In a world where money tends to dictate happiness, only by losing his prestige and name, does Charlie realize what's important. As the story progresses, it seems to get a little bit better, but the first few chapters I was turned off by the writing style. On a trip from his office in Paris, to his château in Normandy, his car swerves off a cliff, and Charles and his car plunge into the ocean, far below the road.I don’t think they still have any contact with her (she did turn up about 200 miles away living a new life. Within the first few pages into the story, readers are told that the main character's mom died when he was a young boy -- four pages later, we're told that Charlie's mother died while he was in college. First, the whole plot hinges on a man driving off of a cliff and walking for over an hour while marginally injured. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Expect a Miracle, a book of her favorite quotations for inspiration and comfort; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved, and the children’s books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.