THE HAWALA AGENT

 : The Hawala Agent

 : Smarak Swain

 : 199

 : #fiction

 : /5

 How about an intriguing tale of power-hunger, greed, and the need to lead an extravagant life?This story is centered around Digyen Bumrah, a forensic auditor and corporate spy by profession. His friend Deepak Bhide’s wife Swati Gupta goes missing suddenly and Digyen takes it up to find her. As Digyen tries to investigate, he learns that there are other people too looking for Swati. Digyen also investigates the company Globosoft, where Deepak and Swati had worked together. There are accusations that Swati had taken certain important documents pertaining to Globosoft with her and this amplifies the chase to solve the case. Did Swati get kidnapped or is she in hiding? Will Digyen be able to find her? Is Swati a spy or is she telling the truth?

The author has written this story inspired by real-life incidents — the Jain Hawala Diaries in 1991 and the Chennai Income Tax raid in 2018. Each of the characters is well-written and the suspense of what happened to Swati is maintained throughout. The climax had me wonder if such a thing is even possible and kudos to the author for this fictional version of true events. 

When I picked up this book because of its blurb, I had no idea what a hawala system is. But this book certainly enriched my knowledge about the same. I would highly recommend this book for those who love an enjoyable and engaging story!