Without a Trace

Product Information

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. I started my journey with Steel last year, and with every book I was amazed with how much I loved how she wrote with ease, caught your attention in an instant, and held a story with twists and turns to the very end. Although I could sympathize with Charles in wanting to leave his old life, I didn’t like that he actually let his family believe he was dead. After gathering the courage to climb to safety, he starts to walk—bruised, bloody, and desperate for help.

No person with a history of domestic violence like that is going to up and let a strange man into her home. It is very unusual for me to have a Danielle steel book less than five stars but this one was a Shakey four stars. The story kept me engaged for sure but was far fetched and slightly predictable, but I still couldn’t stop reading. Without a Trace is a moving tale of second chances and creating a life worth living, from the billion copy bestseller, Danielle Steel.

But trapped in a job he doesn’t like and wife who wants to live the life of luxury, he is anything but happy. He survives, and finds his way to a country house where a lovely woman takes him in and helps him heal.

I must say that it took me a while to understand that while in America, the family would have had to wait a number of years for him to have been declared dead since there was no found body, and then they could split the estate. I later realized that the first chapter was trying to convey what a boring life Charlie was leading. 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.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. They have an instant connection, and as she nurses him back to health, Charles begins to discover the passion he’s been missing for so many years.

The setting is gorgeous, part of the book is set in Paris, some of it is set in Charles’s lavish château in Normandy, and part of it is set in Aud’s small cabin, also in Normandy. This is a great parable for our time, one I believe many of Steel’s fans will connect and identify with. 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. 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.What would you do if your life was unhappy and you had a chance to disappear and start your life all over again?

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. In Without a Trace, Danielle Steel tells an irresistible story of the risks two people are willing to take in exchange for a chance at the life they’ve always wanted. But Aude has secrets of her own and before long their pasts catch up to them, threatening everything they have fought to build.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. 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.