Westwind (novel)

{{Short description|Novel by Ian Rankin}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox book | name = Westwind | title_orig = | translator = | image = File:WestwindNovel.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Ian Rankin | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = Scotland | language = English | series = | subject = | genre = [[Thriller (genre)|Thriller]] | publisher = [[Barrie & Jenkins]] | release_date = 1990 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print ([[hardcover]]) | pages = 224 pp | isbn = 0-7126-3626-9 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}

'''''Westwind''''' is a 1990 thriller [[novel]] written by [[Ian Rankin]]. It is one of the author's earliest works.

== Background == Rankin has spoken of his early disillusionment with ''Westwind'', saying that he had been asked to rework it so often that by the end he no longer felt like his work at all. Of this period he says: "I decided it would rest in a dark corner of my consciousness, never to see the light of day again." However, after re-reading the novel following praise from a fan, he decided to re-release it in 2019, with some small editing changes.<ref name=":0" />

==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/ian-rankin/westwind.htm|title=Westwind by Ian Rankin|website=www.fantasticfiction.com|access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref>

==Release details== *1991, UK, Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; large print edition (September 1991) ({{ISBN|0708925057}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7089-2505-8}}); hardback (first edition); hardcover: 480 pages The book was reissued, with slight modifications, in November 2019.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Thorpe |first1=Vanessa |title=Ian Rankin relaunches the novel he once hoped to bury |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/10/ian-rankin-launches-westwind-novel-he-hoped-to-bury |access-date=10 February 2020 |work=The Observer |date=10 November 2019}}</ref>

== Reception == The 2019 reissue of the novel was largely well-received, with reviewers commenting on the prescient theme. ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' called it: "A fast-paced blast from the past...and (who knows?) maybe the immediate future as well,"<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ian-rankin/westwind/ |title=WESTWIND {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref> although ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' was less complimentary, considering it "strictly for Rankin completists."<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 10, 2025 |title=Westwind by Ian Rankin |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316497923 |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}}</ref>

==References== <references/>

==Bibliography== *{{cite book | title=Westwind | last=Rankin | first=Ian | publisher=Ulverscroft | year=1990 | isbn=0-7089-2505-7}}

[[Category:1991 British novels]] [[Category:Novels by Ian Rankin]] [[Category:Barrie & Jenkins books]]