Ex Agent (Masud Rana-462)

Ex Agent (Masud Rana 462) is another entry in Qazi Anwar Hussain’s monumental thriller series, the longest-running in Bengali popular fiction. The premise of this instalment, as the title suggests, plays with the idea of a former agent — someone who has been on the inside and is now, perhaps unwillingly, drawn back into the operational world.

Masud Rana has held Bengali readers since 1966 because Qazi Anwar Hussain understood his audience exactly. The pacing is fast, the chapters are short, the violence is stylised, and the protagonist is the kind of competent, wry, slightly weary professional that thriller readers love. The series has been a school of action writing for an entire generation of Bangladeshi readers.

Whether you are coming to Masud Rana for the first time or returning after a long break, Ex Agent makes a solid evening’s reading.