Review
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Title: Final Call
Author: Rachel Ann Nunes
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Paranormal
Year Published: 2012
Number of Pages: 262
Binding: Trade Paperback
ISBN10: n/a
ISBN13: 978-1-60908-899-6
Price: $17.99

Reviewed by Tristi Pinkston for the Association for Mormon Letters

We first met character Autumn Rain in Rachel Ann Nunes's book "Eyes Like Mine," and then followed her through the novels "Imprints" and "Shades of Gray." We learned that she and her twin sister were adopted into separate families at birth, and they both inherited unusual gifts and abilities that brought them together again after a lifetime of separation. In "Final Call," we go with Autumn on her latest adventure into the unknown.

Autumn doesn't think of herself as a psychic, but she certainly does have gifts - when she touches an item, she can read impressions left upon it by its owner. This gift has landed her a job as a consultant with the police department in Portland, with a detective who used to think she was nuts but now admires her talent. Shannon Martin has saved her life, and she has saved his, and things like that do tend to shake things up a bit, but Autumn's not sure if she's ready for the emotions in Shannon's eyes that go beyond admiration. She's still trying to sort through her feelings for Jake, the man who was almost her boyfriend, or was her boyfriend but isn't anymore, or ... whatever he is. She's not sure.

When a former employee of Autumn's comes to her for help in finding his missing sister, Autumn is pulled into the mysterious backstage doings at a local dive of a community theater, where there are too few roles, too many eager actors, and a long shot at Broadway. Was the missing girl killed because she landed the role someone else wanted? No one is talking - certainly not the body Autumn finds in the closet. But it's not the missing girl - it's someone else entirely, and the investigation continues.

Meanwhile, Autumn and her twin sister, Tawnia, finally have a lead as to the whereabouts of their birth mother's family and might get some closure to this chapter of their past. Autumn is kept busy running her antique store, investigating at the theater, tracking down her maternal grandmother, and figuring out her feelings for these two good men who both want to win her heart.

The book comes to an exciting conclusion with a shoot-out in the darkened theater as Autumn gets the chance to save her family from danger and bring a killer to justice. But she's still not entirely sure what to do about the Shannon/Jake thing ... I'm glad we were left with a wide-open setup for a sequel, because we've got to see who she ends up choosing.

I have to admit, this wasn't my favorite of Rachel's books (that would actually be "Where I Belong"). The editing was a little loose, which surprised me, and some of the plot points weren't developed as much as I've seen from this author in the past. That said, the story was intriguing and held my interest throughout, and as I said, I'm looking forward to the sequel. Autumn is a likable character with her penchant for organic foods, her refusal to wear shoes unless it's freezing outside, and her fierce devotion to her family and determination to follow her heart wherever it takes her. She is one of the more unusual, creative characters we've seen on the market in recent years, and it's been fun to get to know her throughout her adventures.