Backup

by Rick Mofina

An 11-year-old boy finds his dad's gun and rushes to a deadly stand off at the mall. "Backup" by Rick Mofina is the 2,300-word, gut-wrenching short story that was nominated for Canada's top literary prize for crime fiction, the Arthur Ellis Award, in the category of Best Short Story, presented by the Crime Writers of Canada. "Backup" received further acclaim when it was named a finalist for a Best Short Story Award by The International Thriller Writers. It is one of three gripping tales in his crime anthology, THREE TO THE HEART.

About the
Rick Mofina is a former crime reporter and the award-winning author of several notable thrillers.

The International Thriller Writers, The Private Eye Writers of America and The Crime Writers of Canada have listed Rick Mofina's titles as being among the best in the world.

His books have been published in some 21 countries and have been praised by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffery Deaver, Sandra Brown, James Rollins, Brad Thor, Nick Stone, David Morrell, Allison Brennan, Heather Graham, Linwood Barclay, Peter Robinson, Håkan Nesser and Kay Hooper.

26 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2012

About the author

Rick Mofina is a USA Today, Globe and Mail, and Toronto Star bestselling author of more than 36 crime fiction thrillers that have been published in nearly 30 countries. A former journalist, he has interviewed murderers on death row, flown over Los Angeles with the LAPD and patrolled with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police near the Arctic. He has also reported from the Caribbean, Africa, Kuwait and Qatar.

The Crime Writers of Canada, The International Thriller Writers and The Private Eye Writers of America have listed his titles among the best in crime fiction. He is a two-time winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Excellence Award, a winner of the Barry Award winner, and a multiple finalist for the International Thriller Award and Shamus Award.

Library Journal calls him “One of the best thriller writers in the business.”
The Crime Writers of Canada named him recipient of the 2026 Grand Master Award.

Rick Mofina’s work has been praised by such authors as James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Shari Lapena, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffery Deaver, Louise Penny, Sandra Brown, James Rollins, Lisa Unger, Lisa Gardner, Brad Thor, Nick Stone, David Morrell, Allison Brennan, Heather Graham, Linwood Barclay, Peter Robinson, Freida McFadden, Heather Gudenkauf, Alafair Burke, Håkan Nesser and Kay Hooper.

Series:
* Tom Reed and Walt Sydowski
* Jason Wade
* Jack Gannon

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Novel (2003): Blood of Others

Reviews

[Sheila Beaumont]

Short but intense and riveting, this well-written story is told from the point of view of an 11-year-old boy who is determined to act as backup for his father and save him from a perilous situation. It was nominated for the prestigious Arthur Ellis Award in the Best Short Story category. Mr. Mofina has also written many excellent novels, which I recommend highly.

[Silver Screen Videos]

In gymnastics, the most important part of the entire routine is the landing. Many a fine program has been ruined by a gymnast stumbling badly at the last moment. Flash fiction, also known as short short fiction, is somewhat like gymnastics in that regard. The story consists basically of a setup and a punch line, both of which have to work. Rick Mofina's flash fiction story, "Backup," handles the setup nicely, but falls on its face when delivering the punchline.

"Backup" is narrated by an 11-year-old boy who is the son of a cop. His best friend's father, also a cop, was gunned down in the line of duty, and the narrator has quite understandably been afraid that the same fate might await his own father. So, when he hears on a TV newscast that a shootout took place at a local mall and realizes that his father might be on the scene without the backup gun that he left at home that morning, the narrator grabs the gun, hops on the local bus, and heads to the mall to make sure his father has the backup.

Of course, those over the age of 11 who are reading the story might put a different spin on the event than the narrator does, realizing that by the time a pre-teen can catch a local bus and get to the mall, the situation would probably already be resolved, one way or another. Further, the arrival of a child carrying a gun at an actual active crime scene would very possibly wind up a disaster. But, as readers realize this, the narrator does not, so the bulk of the story is a reasonably suspenseful race against time, at least from the narrator’s point of view, as he rushes to get his father’s gun to him “in time.”

I’ve read several of Mofina’s longer books on Amazon, and he is one of the better thriller writers around. The first few pages of the story reflect that skill. But then, the narrator arrives at the mall, and the story falls apart. I won’t spoil the ending, but it proves to be slightly confusing, rather flat, and completely unsatisfactory. It proves to be one of those “what was that?” endings. Mofina can do and has done considerably better.

Further, Mofina (or his publisher) engages in some deceptive marketing for “Backup.” I picked it up when it was available for free as a promotion, but the author normally sells it for 99 cents. That’s normally the minimum selling price for an e-book on Amazon, and I understand why it’s so priced, but the author engages in a bit of trickery to make the story more saleable. The Amazon page states that “Backup” is 25 pages long, but the story itself is true flash fiction, taking up less than half the total pages. Further, the remainder of the text is not one or more excerpts from other works, as is common. Instead, the author includes links to the various other books in his bibliography (with a couple of pages consisting of individual book covers and links), along with a brief biography expanded to take up an entire page and several pages of excerpts from favorable reviews of the author’s other books by noted writers such as James Patterson, Dean Koontz, and Michael Connelly and from various publications. These blurbs might have been acceptable as a forward to a longer book, but here they are merely fluff padding to make the story appear longer and less objectionable to a would-be reader deciding whether to invest a dollar in a “25-page” short story.

Any way you look at it, “Backup” is a disappointment, especially for those used to Mofina’s usual skill. That it received various nominations from some little-known literary organizations suggests that being named a “finalist” may be akin to the old participation prizes they gave out in elementary school athletic competitions. An accurate rating for the story, based on literary quality, would be 2.5 stars, but I’m rounding it down to two, based on the deceptive marketing. “Backup” should be relegated to the back of readers’ lists of Mofina’s books.

[Ameena K.G]

Backup is a short story about a boy and a gun. Written in first person, Rick Mofina captured the voice of the child in his writing. There was no dramatic action, no fancy words, Just a beautiful and gripping story set in a few scenes with few characters, each one relevant.

Short stories aren't for everyone and not everyone can write a good short story. But, Rick Mofina nailed this and I have to add, held my attention throughout the book.

[Carolyn Injoy]

Backup by Rick Mofina is a compelling short story. I gave it four stars.

I received a complimentary Kindle copy from Amazon. That did not change my opinion for this review.

"An 11-year-old boy finds his dad's gun and rushes to a deadly stand off at the mall."

Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Backup-Rick-Mo...

[Carla]

This concise read was written from the point of view of an eleven year old boy so was told using his thoughts and words. It is a gripping, engrossing story about the love a boy has for his dad, and his fear that what happened to his best friend’s father could happen to his dad if the boy cannot provide backup.

[Don]

Another great short story.

[Richard Dow]

short story

[Kally Sheng]

Not impressed

It’s written in an eleven year old language so I guess I shouldn’t judge. Perhaps it was meant for educational purpose.

[Linda]

Nothing wrong with Rick Mofina‘s writing.

Thank you, Mr. Mofina, for a good read.