Westwind (novel)

Westwind (ISBN-10: 0708925057) is a 1990 novel written by Ian Rankin, and is one of the author's earliest works. The author has explained on his website that he was not happy with the outcome and unlike other early works by Rankin, it has not been reissued. ^[1]

Plot summary

The Zephyr computer system monitors the progress of the United Kingdom's only spy satellite. When this system briefly goes offline, the book's main characters Hepton and Dreyfuss (the sole survivor of a space shuttle crash) have the only key to the enigma that must be solved if both men are to stay alive. ^[2]

Authors Comments

Rankin writes on his website that the book was an attempt at a conspiracy-theory novel, set partly in the USA (a country he had never visited) and with a lot of humour. The editor of the time didn't like it, and had him make many changes - taking out the humour and the US settings and by the end he felt the book had ceased to be his. Rankin also says he doubt he could read it today.^[3]

Release details

• 1991, UK, Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large Print Ed edition (September 1991) (ISBN-10: 0708925057 , ISBN-13: 978-0708925058), Pub date ? hardback (First edition) Hardcover: 480 pages

Footnotes

1. ^ http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=89
2. ^ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/r/ian-rankin/westwind.htm
3. ^ http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=89

References

• Rankin, Ian (1990). Westwind. Ulverscroft. ISBN 0708925057.