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Clean Sweep Ignatius
Clean Sweep Ignatius is part of The Year of Short Stories and is one of several digital shorts released to celebrate the publication of Jeffrey Archer’s magnificent seventh collection, Tell Tale . Taken from Jeffrey Archer's second collection of short stories, A Twist in the Tale , comes Clean Sweep Ignatius, an irresistible, witty and ingenious short read. Nigeria's newly appointed Minister of Finance is determined to make his country sit up straight with his rigorous overhaul of the system, soon earning him the nickname 'Clean Sweep Ignatius'. But, somehow, large sums of money are still falling through invisible cracks. At his wits end, General Otobi grants Ignatius with the authority to take whatever means he deems necessary to track down the errant funds . . . Be sure to look out for more from The Year of Short Stories collection, including The Endgame and The Man Who Robbed His Own Post Office .
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
15 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1988
74 people are currently reading
360 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Archer
628 books12.6k followersJeffrey is published in 114 countries and more than 47 languages, with more than 750,000 5* reviews with international sales passing 275 million copies.
He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (nineteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries).
Jeffrey has been married for 53 years to Dame Mary Archer DBE. They have two sons, William and James, three grandsons and two granddaughters, and divide their time between homes in London, Cambridge and Mallorca.
He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (nineteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries).
Jeffrey has been married for 53 years to Dame Mary Archer DBE. They have two sons, William and James, three grandsons and two granddaughters, and divide their time between homes in London, Cambridge and Mallorca.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 18, 2018
Now it might be that I had read it many years ago as part of the collection in ‘ A twist in the tale’ ‘ however my subconscious never really allowed me to be engrossed in the short story. The finale therefore packed little punch, where others my be bowled over.
Archer, writing about corruption is also a little hard to stomach.
The author’s skill is easier to see and appreciate in his choice of words and setting the scene. The execution of the story is faultless and like any good short story no unnecessary words are found loitering in the account of Nigerian government financial fraud.
Masterful, but the fizz left me flat.
Archer, writing about corruption is also a little hard to stomach.
The author’s skill is easier to see and appreciate in his choice of words and setting the scene. The execution of the story is faultless and like any good short story no unnecessary words are found loitering in the account of Nigerian government financial fraud.
Masterful, but the fizz left me flat.
September 24, 2018
A very short read
Clean Sweep Ignatius is a very short story. I didn't enjoy it much as I predicted it. He narrates it brilliantly though, as usual.
There is something very dramatic in his dialogues. Every time I read an Archer book, I end up mouthing every sentence with all the feelings and what not. Remarkable!
Clean Sweep Ignatius is a very short story. I didn't enjoy it much as I predicted it. He narrates it brilliantly though, as usual.
There is something very dramatic in his dialogues. Every time I read an Archer book, I end up mouthing every sentence with all the feelings and what not. Remarkable!
February 20, 2018
A very short read. Perfect example of characterization.Simple ending.
September 10, 2022
Hilarious :)
July 18, 2018
A short story by Jeffrey Archer from the year of the short stories.I didn't think this book was as good as some of the other stories in this issue. However it was well written and I loved the twist in the tale.
November 7, 2020
Lol that was unexpected!
Btw, I thought 'clean sweep' has the same meaning as 'penyapu baharu' but I was wrong.
Btw, I thought 'clean sweep' has the same meaning as 'penyapu baharu' but I was wrong.
July 24, 2022
Another entertaining short story
December 31, 2019
Wow
Holy crap, that was a good ending! I totally did not expect it to end the way it did. So good.
Holy crap, that was a good ending! I totally did not expect it to end the way it did. So good.
July 13, 2018
So cool what the author's done within a few pages.
This was my third or fourth of The Year of Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer and so far my favorite. I loved the settings, characters and especially the plot - unfortunatelly it's impossible to say more without including spoilers and since I hate those I try hard not to include those in my reviews.
This was my third or fourth of The Year of Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer and so far my favorite. I loved the settings, characters and especially the plot - unfortunatelly it's impossible to say more without including spoilers and since I hate those I try hard not to include those in my reviews.
January 4, 2018
It was ok ok story for me
For me it was ok ok story. Personally I would love to have more entertainment and emotional experience that other short book series of the author delivered.
For me it was ok ok story. Personally I would love to have more entertainment and emotional experience that other short book series of the author delivered.
November 23, 2017
Jeffrey Archer is a master of the short story. This is a clever tale of corruption with an interesting twist.
December 6, 2017
Enjoyed the short story!
January 23, 2018
Short story. Very nice one.
March 18, 2018
This I must say was brief, engaging and interesting. The twist at the end, I must admit did not see that coming at all. One of Archer's my personal favourite till date.
January 22, 2021
Another very short book, just a short story really, as is hinted by the “Year of Short Stories” label on the cover image. I downloaded this book when the whole series was offered free as ebooks from Amazon, but now that I look back they are nowhere to be found. I can only assume that this is because they are now combined into one or more (paid) anthologies rather than being available as individual titles.
This story is fairly straight-forward Archer fare. It describes a short section of the life of an ambitious Nigerian politician and his attempts to clean up the murky swamp of local politics. The eponymous Ignatius goes to greater and greater lengths to seek out corruption in the Nigerian government and eventually finds himself facing down a Swiss bank official who stubbornly refuses to divulge the names and details of his countrymen’s accounts at the bank. In an apparently uncharacteristic move he even resorts to the threat of murder, before revealing that it was, in fact, all a test. The final implication is that even “Clean Sweep Ignatius” is as corrupt as everyone else, and has been through the whole process just to establish a safe place to stash his ill-gotten gains.
In many ways it is the ending which lets this story down. There are plenty of other ways it could have ended, from Ignatius silenced by the corrupt machinery he could never overcome, to a discovery that the secret mastermind behind the missing millions was the president or even his own wife. No doubt Archer felt while writing this that a crusading politician turning out to be corrupt himself was a satisfying twist, but reading it now, it falls foul of two major problems.
The first problem is that, especially now, in the early days of 2021, politicians as a class seem inherently untrustworthy, so the reveal that Ignatius is on the make is hardly a surprise. The second problem is more insidious and so stereotypical that it almost becomes racist. The concept that everyone from Nigeria is automatically a scammer is both demeaning and insensitive. To tar the entire population of a whole country, particularly an ex-colonial African country, with the same brush shows a side to Archer’s thinking that I find unpleasant.
It’s also, as many have pointed out, somewhat ironic that a disgraced ex-politician such as Jeffrey Archer should so casually write about political and financial corruption.
On the whole, not one of his best. Even though it has all the competence and flair of his usual writing, it does not stand well among his other, more personal, short stories.
This story is fairly straight-forward Archer fare. It describes a short section of the life of an ambitious Nigerian politician and his attempts to clean up the murky swamp of local politics. The eponymous Ignatius goes to greater and greater lengths to seek out corruption in the Nigerian government and eventually finds himself facing down a Swiss bank official who stubbornly refuses to divulge the names and details of his countrymen’s accounts at the bank. In an apparently uncharacteristic move he even resorts to the threat of murder, before revealing that it was, in fact, all a test. The final implication is that even “Clean Sweep Ignatius” is as corrupt as everyone else, and has been through the whole process just to establish a safe place to stash his ill-gotten gains.
In many ways it is the ending which lets this story down. There are plenty of other ways it could have ended, from Ignatius silenced by the corrupt machinery he could never overcome, to a discovery that the secret mastermind behind the missing millions was the president or even his own wife. No doubt Archer felt while writing this that a crusading politician turning out to be corrupt himself was a satisfying twist, but reading it now, it falls foul of two major problems.
The first problem is that, especially now, in the early days of 2021, politicians as a class seem inherently untrustworthy, so the reveal that Ignatius is on the make is hardly a surprise. The second problem is more insidious and so stereotypical that it almost becomes racist. The concept that everyone from Nigeria is automatically a scammer is both demeaning and insensitive. To tar the entire population of a whole country, particularly an ex-colonial African country, with the same brush shows a side to Archer’s thinking that I find unpleasant.
It’s also, as many have pointed out, somewhat ironic that a disgraced ex-politician such as Jeffrey Archer should so casually write about political and financial corruption.
On the whole, not one of his best. Even though it has all the competence and flair of his usual writing, it does not stand well among his other, more personal, short stories.
March 24, 2020
I don't do book reviews.
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way
December 15, 2020
Nigeria's newly appointed Minister of Finance, Ignatius Agarbi vows on his first day in office to clean up the corruption that has plagued the nation. In his pursuits, he effectively cleans house, but his superior, General Otobi wants to find out why millions of dollars are still unaccounted for, so he provides Ignatius with unlimited authority to locate who is shoveling money into suspected swiss bank accounts. Clean Sweep Ignatius demonstrates once again how he earned his moniker. Witty!
September 27, 2020
Interesting book from Jeffrey Archer. A Nigeria's newly appointed Minister of Finance appearing to be honest and anti corrupt fight to clean up the system ( almost like the present situation) However when large sums of money still mysteriously disappears, he tracks down the destination and there’s a shocker at the end.
Very interesting and knowledgeable glimpse into a familiar scenario in Nigeria. I however gave it a 4 star because it still followed the stereotypical a Nigerian must be a crook theme.
Very interesting and knowledgeable glimpse into a familiar scenario in Nigeria. I however gave it a 4 star because it still followed the stereotypical a Nigerian must be a crook theme.
July 29, 2018
Not long enough but good ending.
October 3, 2018
Funny!!
October 8, 2018
Another great short story!
Jeffrey Archer has done it again! His ingenious short stories are great and so easy to read. I would definitely recommend them.
Jeffrey Archer has done it again! His ingenious short stories are great and so easy to read. I would definitely recommend them.
February 2, 2019
An average read
Nothing much to talk about, as it's a very short story without a significant bodyline. It wasn't so good as Archer's other works are.
Nothing much to talk about, as it's a very short story without a significant bodyline. It wasn't so good as Archer's other works are.
March 18, 2020
cleen sweep ending
April 11, 2020
Ingenious!
What a brilliant story!
No words wasted; clean, swift and no nonsense.
I had a good laugh at the end.
What a brilliant story!
No words wasted; clean, swift and no nonsense.
I had a good laugh at the end.
July 11, 2020
Just like classic Jeffrey, can't predict the ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2021
What?
I dont know. Maybe I didn't understand. I mean, I know what happened but I still don't know what was this. Maybe sorry stories aren't for me after all.
I dont know. Maybe I didn't understand. I mean, I know what happened but I still don't know what was this. Maybe sorry stories aren't for me after all.
April 10, 2023
I didnt really like this short story.
March 8, 2024
Good short read. The ending got predictable half way itself.
March 6, 2026
Moral of the story: trust no one. Kristi & Abby Tabby
December 9, 2018
Clean Sweep Ignatius by Jeffrey Archer.... Corrupted vs Clean politician the gap is just so thin... the denizens get carried away, but a politician is always clear on his objective... short but meaningful characterisation...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews