Swarnolipsa (Masud Rana-468)

Swarnolipsa (Masud Rana 468) is another chapter in the long Bengali thriller series begun by Qazi Anwar Hussain in 1966. The title — gold-lust — frames a story in the classic Masud Rana mould: an international object of desire, a network of competing interests, and an agent of Bangladesh Counter Intelligence walking the line between them.

What has kept this series in print for almost six decades is craftsmanship. Qazi Anwar Hussain knows how to start a chapter, how to drop the hook on the last paragraph, and how to make a reader who only meant to read for ten minutes look up and realise an hour has gone. The world of Masud Rana is comfortable familiar territory for generations of Bangladeshi readers.

Swarnolipsa works as a standalone thriller. For long-time readers, it is one more confident performance from a series that has refused to grow tired.