Chagos Archipelago
A Novel
by Tom Lutz
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Pub Date Oct 14 2025 | Archive Date Nov 07 2025
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Description
A Spanish woman trying to retire as an assassin, a French Foreign Legion deserter from Madagascar, a mysterious (perhaps CIA) woman from America, a billionaire military contractor, and a man wandering the seas alone on a sailing ship bump into each other in the Indian Ocean, and not all of them survive.
Mónica has had enough of her life as a contract killer when she meets lonely wanderer Frank Baltimore in a stupidly expensive resort in Madagascar. A few hundred miles away, Alain has had more than enough of his solitary post on a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and so when the mysterious Skye offers him a job, he says yes—he doesn’t know if she is CIA, Wagner, Darkwater, or a gangster, but he wants in. She takes him to Diego Garcia, the top-secret US military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, for training. Things turn ugly and deadly when a man from Frank’s past turns up trying to break into the lucrative, secretive, already crowded world of paramilitary contractors. He, Monica, Alain, and Skye end up on his bad side and turn to each other for help.
Advance Praise
“This novel will appeal to readers who like a slow burn, a deep dive into characters’ hearts and minds, and whose curiosity is piqued by stories involving racism and privilege. It’s also a profoundly disturbing tale about the callous disregard for the biodiversity of land masses like Chagos that are often exploited in get-rich-quick schemes. An eco-thriller that builds toward an explosive conclusion.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Lutz keeps the plot moving at a steady clip while delving deep into his characters’ psyches, setting the stage for a shocking climax that lands with devastating emotional force. Neo-noir fans will eat this up.” —Publishers Weekly
“Tom Lutz casts a net across the oceans and brings us wanderers, seekers; ‘watchers’ of the seas; islands tasking a pendulum of love, danger, and lethal assignments in and out of resorts and bungalows. As always, Lutz has the psychological knack and a cultural, historical scent and sense. He sets scenes and characters that grip your innards. He will pull you into the swirling wander of the lost, the banished and the killer’s lust. Leap with him, jump into this thrashing, fascinating ship of ‘vast humanity.’”
— Juan Felipe Herrera, Poet Laureate of the United States
“Chagos Archipelago is a crackling thrill ride. Deft and referential, it’s the novel Elmore Leonard would’ve written if he had a degree in Comp Lit. Pulsing with nasty energy.”
— Seth Greenland, author of A Hazard of New Fortunes
“A whip-smart whirlwind novel of noir and adventure, humor and horror, cynicism and romance.”
— StephCha, author of Your House Will Pay
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781636284279 |
| PRICE | $18.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 296 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 3 members
Featured Reviews
Kenneth S, Reviewer
I don't know if I could have loved this book much more. It checks off any number of boxes for me -- mercenaries, spies, assassins, and boats in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It's romantic, funny, thrilling, and insightful -- more Robert Stone and Graham Greene than Elmore Leonard. If one element of the ending is a little unfulfilling, that's only because I wasn't ready to leave the world or the book.
Kathryn M, Reviewer
I loved that this was a woman that was trying to retire as an assassin, it had that overall feel that I was wanting and enjoyed in this type of book. The characters were everything that I was looking for and worked in this universe. Tom Lutz was able to tell a strong story with characters that I cared about and hope to read more.
Mary B, Librarian
A Surprising Page-Turner Set Against a Stunning, Troubling Backdrop
I was immediately drawn into "Chagos Archipelago" despite the fact that espionage, assassins and private military contractors aren’t my usual genre. Tom Lutz crafts a page-turner that doesn’t just rely on its twists; he builds it around four compelling characters—Frank, Mónica, Alain and Skye—whose lives converge in the Indian Ocean. Their sharply drawn inner worlds make them feel fully real, giving the novel’s conclusion genuine emotional weight.
One of the great pleasures of reading is the armchair traveler’s escape and this book delivers. The lush, precise depictions of Madagascar and the Chagos Archipelago are unforgettable. The story threads through a political history I knew little about: the creation of the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia in the 1960s. To make room for it, the British expelled the Chagossian population and leased the island to the United States. Beneath its taut plot of murder, greed and shadowy contractors, the novel examines racism, privilege and profiteering.
"Chagos Archipelago" also raises larger questions about international law and empire. It suggests that institutions built by Western powers in an era of expansion can still justify and perpetuate the exploitation of non-Western territories. The real-world base on Diego Garcia stands as a haunting example of how colonial legacies endure.
Readers who enjoy thrillers with an intriguing backstory will find this one hard to put down. Highly recommended.
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