Summary
Overview
A detailed analysis and dramatic reading of Steve Bruce's second novel 'Sweeper', featuring Steve Barnes navigating a convoluted plot involving Eastern European war criminals, Israeli agents, and football management. The hosts dissect the bizarre writing, questionable narrative choices, and Bruce's recurring obsessions with cars, Christmas shopping, and his general impatience with history and other people's problems.
Introduction and Plot Recap
The hosts begin by recapping the increasingly complex plot of 'Sweeper', where Steve Barnes has discovered a body, investigated various locations, and encountered armed men. The story involves an old groundsman named Sam who turns out to be Stefan Mikhailovich Duchan, an Eastern European general, creating a bewildering mystery that has Barnes entangled with multiple dangerous factions.
- Steve Barnes has found a body, gone to the library, found a house, been unable to get into the house, found the landlord, and encountered two armed men
- The old groundsman Sam is revealed to be Stefan Mikhailovich Duchan, a general
- The house is filled with banners, flags, and photographs of men in military uniforms, revealing Sam's past
" There was a smell in Charlesworth Street. It wasn't the smell of tripe nor of rotting vegetables in an undrained sink. It was the odour of fanaticism. "
Steve Bruce's Slice of Life Observations
Steve Barnes provides his trademark domestic observations, complaining about teenagers and phone bills while pondering Eastern European fanaticism. The narrative awkwardly jumps between family life and international intrigue, with Barnes having crossed-purpose conversations with his wife Susan where they appear to be talking about completely different things.
- Barnes complains about teenagers being constantly on the phone and bills shooting up
- He notes this was written in 1999, before smartphones would 'blow Stephen's mind'
- He has a conversation with Susan where he's pondering mysteries while she's talking about breakfast
" When children get to be teenagers they're never off the phone. Bills shoot up. Our daughter can stay with a pal for a week and as soon as she gets home she has a telephone to spend an hour telling her all the things she's neglected to say the previous week. "
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