Joined in 2023 
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Charles was the CEO of the biggest plastics manufacturer in France, Jansen Plastics. It was his second career, a reincarnation after an earlier life. The job at Jansen had saved him eleven years ago. 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"? So cliff guy saves her in the most boring way. Ex husband dies - shot by the cops. He moves cabin lady into his 5000 sq foot Paris apartment, his kids love her and they buy new furniture 🙄 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.
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.Now, what do you think the money-grubber will think about this? She already has issues with splitting his estate with their two children. I’ve always wondered about people who can just walk away from life, and in Without a Trace, we get to see a man walk away from a lavish lifestyle, his wife, and two grown children.
I almost gave up on this book after the first few chapters. But, I must admit that Ms. Steel does bitchy, money-grubbing wife really well, so I keep going. But, unfortunately, the story got increasingly ludicrous as it went on. 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 was surprised at how fast everything works in France. 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. All of these places are well described and made for a bit of escapism.
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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. 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”. Well, the rest I will leave up to you to imagine. I've read about 80%, and while I'm still interested in how the greedy wife is going to take him to the cleaners during their divorce and just what is going to happen to the hottie and her escaped ex. But get it from the library if you can. Charles Vincent appears to have everything he’s always wanted in life, his two children are grown and off doing their own thing, and while his marriage isn’t perfect, he’s worked hard to keep it together. His job pays well, which helps his wife maintain the lifestyle she desires, but his job isn’t what he’s always wanted to do. But, overall he’s content with his life, but he hasn’t felt true happiness in a long time. 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.
Jerome Jansen owned the largest toy company in France, along with factories that made plastic products for other uses. It was a huge operation, and Charlie’s path had crossed with Jansen’s at the right time. Charlie’s father had been a writer of considerable literary acclaim in France but only modest commercial success, which had indirectly led Charlie into the publishing business right after college. He loved books and everything related to them except writing. His meteoric rise had been astonishing and impressive, and he found he loved the business. He had no talent for writing himself, and had struggled all his life for his father’s approval as an only son, which had been hard-earned and of short duration. Although proud of him, and stern, Charlie’s father had died two years after Charlie started working in publishing. His father’s wishes had been hard to live up to. His mother had been kinder and died when he was very young, and his father was a hard taskmaster. Driven and hardworking, Charlie had been educated in the best French schools. He loved his job and everything about it, except for Gilles Vermier, the tyrant who owned the business. He made Charlie’s life a living hell for all sixteen years he worked there. His consistent victories in spite of his boss won him the reputation of the Golden Boy of the publishing world. Although the publishing house had an impressive stable of authors before he arrived, Charlie had successfully lured both French and foreign writers of major reputation, and enhanced the house he worked for immeasurably. His forward-thinking instincts led them into digital books before anyone else. He used the American market as his model to try to add audiobooks to their list before any other publisher in France. He had a gift for marketing, and understood writers and their quirks, thanks to his own difficult father.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. 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. 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. 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.
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