Blood On The Mesa

Mitch Kearns Combat Tracker #0.5

by J.T. Sawyer

Blood on the Mesa takes readers back to Mitch Kearns’ FBI days, when Mitch utilizes his mantracking skills to help a fellow field agent solve the murder of an informant in the high desert south of Winslow, Arizona. Together, they find themselves navigating a murky trail of suspects in the lucrative black-market trade of prehistoric artifacts, in a criminal manhunt that will put their own lives at risk.
This prequel short story takes place during the weeks preceding Dead in Their Tracks, the first book in the Mitch Kearns Combat Tracker Series.

65 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 28, 2020

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A prequel to the series finds Mitch still with the FBI. While on a training conference, he is persuaded to investigate the murder of an informer.

Mitch uses his tracking tricks to find the murderer.

Good stuff, despite not having a whole lot of violence.

[Will Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very enjoyable read about an FBI agent that's also an expert ex-military tracker, both human and non-human. His skills are what solve this mystery/crime. Sawyer has an easy going style of writing that pulls you along like you're right in the mix of things. The plot is well crafted and moves at a steady pace. A nice start to what promises to be an exciting series. More character development would have been nice. I'm still not sure what the two main characters in this story even look like and that detracts because I can't form a visual in my mind. Physical description, dress, mannerisms, any of that would have been good at the start and added some color to a rather black and white story.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 3 out of 5]

FBI Agent Mitch Kearns takes time out from teaching a class about tracking to put his skill to practical use in the desert where an FBI informant has been found shot dead.
The killing is linked to looting of ancient tribal tombs and there is rather too much discussion why it is a bad thing and whether official excavations are just the same thing under a different name.
Mitch sorts the killing out with little effort in no time at all.
“Blood on the Mesa” is very short, coming in at just 73 pages, but it is interesting enough to encourage me to continue further in the series.
3 Stars.

[Sandra L. Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve heard good things about JT Sawyer, but perhaps this one just wasn’t what I expected. It felt “forced” to get to the story. The characters were one-dimensional. I know it’s the beginning of series and development takes awhile. I just couldn’t bring myself to care much about them and the next step in their story. I might try another Sawyer book, but it won’t be from this series.

[Layne]

Good intro to a fun series

[ShanDizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good background information showing what drives Mitch.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this novella is anything to go by this looks like a very interesting series ahead.