Well this is very much a departure from the Rebus books which have undoubtedly made Ian Rankin's name in the literary and crime fiction ranks. Westwind is somewhere between science fiction, thriller and conspiracy novel, but it is packed with pace, intrigue, threat and exactly the kind of puzzling mystery you might expect from this author. I really rather enjoyed it.

Now, bearing in mind that this book was written, and is set in, the eighties, add in a few more technological advancements, and I wouldn't actually be surprised to learn that this was something that was very much happening in real life, especially given some of the so called world leaders we have had to endue in the last decade. It isn't actually fact, it is purely fiction, but I fiction I could totally believe in. Our key protagonist in this novel is Martin Hepton, a man whose job it is to monitor a key British satellite which is capable of very close up tracking of all that is going on in the country, or beyond it they should so choose. Partially unthinkable big brother-esque sci-fi in the eighties - very much par for the course these days. Let's face it, with CCTV nowadays, governments have given up trying to be in anyway covert about it. But when the satellite mysteriously goes off line for a short time, something doesn't quite feel right. Add in the crashing of a US space module where all but one of the astronauts die, and the mysterious disappearance of one of Hepton's colleagues, a man who had seen some unusual activity in the data he was monitoring, and the scene is set for a fast pcade, high stakes thriller that really kept me glued to the page.

There are moments in this book where I perhaps had to suspend belief a fraction, but probably far fewer now than if I'd read it four decades ago. Hepton is just an everyday kind of guy, not some special forces pro, or a trained spy like some of the people he finds himself in contact with over the course of the book. But he is clearly an intelligent guy, and, more importantly given we need to be on his side for this to work, the kind of character I grew to like really quickly. He has a sharp mind and is super observant - a plus in his line of work - and whilst all of his colleagues might be ignorant to what is going on, he cannot turn a blind eye. Got to respect that in a book's hero, don't you? And, in many cases, where any normal person would have cut their losses and walked away, his inability to let go felt very true to character.

There are many antagonists in this book, some more overt than others. Ian Rankin has delivered every kind of personality from the jobsworth to the self serving political types. Setting it in the world of the Armed Forces, politics and the spy network really makes the story pop, and the fact that, even if only tangentially involved, Hepton's place in the story felt believable. I also liked that one of the most deadly opponents Hepton faes was not just another super strength, overly trained macho man. The book is packed with girl power of the most deadly kind and whilst I couldn't bring myself to like the character, for good reason, I did respect her authenticity.

This is a brilliant spy/tech/conspiracy/political thriller and thoroughly enjoyable. The pacing was spot on and I raced through it from start to finish. it's not the longest novel in the world, but not a page was wasted, and, as conspiracy thrillers go, and bearing in mind the time in which it was written and set, it really hit the mark. It might feel a little dated in terms of technology now, but it was a nice diversion in amongst my 'straight' crime novels and a book I can happily recommend.

Eyes in the sky... 2½ stars

When communications with the Zephyr satellite are suddenly cut, the monitoring staff at the Binbrook listening station work frantically to restore it. If it’s down for more than a few minutes, chances are it will be lost for good. Fortunately, it kicks back in after a couple of minutes, as mysteriously as the original breakdown. One of the technicians, Martin Hepton, is puzzled – even more so when a colleague tells him that he has spotted something odd, and then before Hepton gets the chance to ask him what, disappears from the base. At the same time, there is an accident aboard a space shuttle and all the crew are killed except one – a British astronaut, Major Dreyfuss. All this is happening at a time when tensions are high already, due to the imminent pullout of American troops from their bases across Europe. Soon Hepton will find himself in danger, and to save himself will have to work out what’s going on...

This is one Ian Rankin wrote many years ago when he was just starting out. It was first published in 1990 and sank without making much impression. Now there’s a little trend happening of publishers reissuing early books of authors who have gone on to become big names. I’ve recently read a couple of early Peter Mays – one I abandoned and didn’t review, and the other I loved. So there are gems out there – we’ve all read debuts we’ve thought were great and been disappointed when they didn’t break through. Sadly, while this one isn’t terrible, it’s not very good either.

It took me a while to figure out why it wasn’t working. It’s well written as you’d expect from Rankin, and although the characters are clichéd and the technology is seriously outdated, neither of these is unusual in action thrillers. I realised it’s the timing that’s off. In thrillers, there’s always a need to keep the reader in the dark alongside the characters as they battle against the odds to discover what’s going on. But there has to be something to hold the attention while the plot gets a chance to develop – usually the reader getting to know and care about the main character – and that’s where this one is weak. For several chapters, we keep meeting new people, most of whom are so underdeveloped that I found in the later stages I had no recollection of who they were or in what context we’d met them before, and each encounter is equally mysterious, constantly adding to the confusion. It bounces around so much that it was quite a while before I was even sure that Hepton was going to be the hero of the story. By that point my interest level had already flagged.

Hepton of course becomes the target of the baddies who are determined to kill him. This baffled me a bit, since he didn’t know anything and probably wouldn’t even have started looking into it if they hadn’t started chasing him around. A rather incompetent move, I felt, to actually inspire him to become suspicious! That wasn’t their only incompetence, though – I really felt that if their assassins were this bad at killing people, then the world probably wasn’t in too much danger from them.

And I’m afraid that when we finally find out who the baddies are and what they’re up to, I found it not only lacking in credibility but unfortunately all a bit silly. It left me feeling that Rankin was more interested in the action parts of the book than in ensuring there was a solid plot beneath them.

I’ve swithered over how to rate it. I suspect if it hadn’t been Rankin, my expectations would have been lower and therefore I’d have been less disappointed in it. But then if it had been written by someone else, I also think I’d be unlikely to seek out more of the author’s work based on this outing. I’m not convinced that this is a good trend – two disappointments out of three from two of my favourite authors of all time suggests that maybe their forgotten early books should be left to rest in peace. 2½ stars in the end, but I suspect that one of them may simply be because of my affection for Rankin’s later work...

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Orion.

An early book by Ian Rankin, which did definitely not live up to my expectations, being a great fan of his later books. Having said that, a gripping read which was definitely a page turner and a well crafted novel.

First off I would like to say that I am and great and loyal fan of Ian Rankin. I have read all of his books and loved the Rebus series especially. So, this book came as a huge disappointment.
When it was written it would have seemed a futuristic take on a situation where the US and British are competing over satellite space. Add in a couple of dodgy Russians and girls who have ‘pretty’ smiles and you have the makings of a dated and fairly poorly constructed ‘spy thriller’. Had I bought this I would have felt very hard done by.
Rankin does make apologies for his fascination with some of the technology that appears – especially central locking on cars but that aside the writing itself is clunky and old fashioned.
I was interested to see what happened at the end so carried on reading it – but only just.

An intricate tale set in Britain and America,involving satellites and spies. Who works for who,who is on the good side. We have a quiet,determined hero who manages to pursue the spies.

I was eager to read this book. Something a little different from an exceptional author. I believe this was written way back, right at the start of Rankins writing career and has been re released and published again.
It was one of those books that you really don't know what to expect. At times I got a little lost with the story line, but overall it was an interesting read.
I believe any fans of Rankin will enjoy this book and will be in for a read treat.

This book was first published in 1990 and has been reissued by the author. It's a futuristic thriller, tense and exciting. Not my usual genre, and not for me. I would rate it 3*. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This book is a truly gripping spy thriller set in the late 90s (I think) and revolves around the launch and crash of a space shuttle in the US and the use of military spy satellites in the UK. The NSA, MI5 and MI6 are all complicit in the killing and disposal of number of innocent and not-so-innocent operatives and personnel; so it is down to Hepton an operative in satellite monitoring base, his former journalist partner and Dreyfuss the only survivor of the shuttle disaster to work out and expose the shady military takeover being perpetrated in plain sight but at the same time being hidden from UK government. Great story, characters and excellent plotting. The pace of the narrative kept me turning pages long into the night.

Thank you to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for this Ian Rankin book. I have read all of the Rebus novels and I am a fan of his writing in general so was thrilled when this novel was to be issued again. Wow it was amazingly brilliant!! The description was spot on when it said a gripping page turner. I couldn't put it down at all. So glad we all now have this chance to read this story. You need to strap yourself in and be prepared to be hurtled through the pages.Fantastic

I have read several of Ian Rankin’s novels before, mainly the ‘Rebus’ stories which I always find so compelling. This was certainly a different read for this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Reading the forward, I was intrigued that this was originally published some years ago and had been slightly revised for a second publication.

The story centres a Martin Hepton, who works at a central monitoring unit. Something strange happens when the satellite is down for a few minutes. Martin is immediately suspicious and when his friend goes on long-term sick leave immediately afterwards, he begins to ask questions.

Strange things start to happen and Martin soon realises that his life is at risk. He seeks out a previous girlfriend, who is an investigative journalist to help get to the bottom.

The web is deep and dark and soon they are out of their depth as the twists and turns keep coming right until the end.

Thanks to NetGalley, Orion Publishing and Ian Rankin ARC in return for my honest review.

Thoroughly entertaining read and highly recommended.

I love Ian Rankin books but it took me until chapter 8 to get into it. I don't know if it was just too technical for me but I felt the characters didn't come to life until then. The plot became clearer and it became more like the Ian Rankin style I love. My Advice is to keep persevering.

Ian Rankin wrote this in the early part of his writing career, at the beginning of the 1990s, a what would then have been a futuristic thriller. It never made much of a splash at the time, Rankin has lightly rewritten aspects of it for Orion to republish it now. It is not a bad thriller, but this is Rankin developing his writing skills that culminate in the Inspector Rebus series, set in Edinburgh, that made his name. His reputation is now such that anything with his name on it will fly off the shelves like hot cakes. For me, this still feels like an uneven read amidst which a great story resides, one with a world where the cutting edge technology here has been far surpassed by our contemporary realities today.

Martin Hepton monitors surveillance pictures from Britain's Zephyr satellite at Binbrook ground station in Lincolnshire. The pictures stop transmitting for a short while, causing concern but return fairly quickly. A co-worker, Paul Vincent, sees something odd, wanting to talk to Martin, but before this happens, Paul disappears and is reported to have fallen sick, and receiving medical attention. Soon after, the American shuttle, Argos, malfunctions with every crew member dead, apart from the British astronaut, Major Michael Dreyfuss, the only survivor. These are turbulent times in the US, Britain and Europe, with Europe having asked the US military presence to be removed, sparking unrest and protests. In a narrative involving the British and American security services and the military, many murders, with a kill crazy assassin and a ex-military officer at large, Martin finds himself in extreme danger, where the only person he can trust is his ex=girlfriend, Jilly Watson, a London journalist.

This is a tense and exciting read, with all the requisite elements that comprise a thriller, the suspense, fast paced, with twists, as the unlikely hero is forced to become an action man, with the help of MI5, MI6, the Foreign Office and others as he uncovers a deadly political conspiracy. This is an entertaining and compulsive read which I very much enjoyed. However, in my view, it does not come up to the standard of the John Rebus series, but a below par Rankin is still worth reading when compared to some other writers. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.

This is by Ian Rankin, an author I've enjoyed for many years now. However this is a book I'd not come across. It was first published in 1990 in the early part of his career. It is a standalone thriller. Martin Hepton works at a satellite communications facility. Something strange happens one day. After that one of the people he works with goes missing and Martin does not believe the official line. He keeps asking questions but that might cause him trouble.

This republication of a "lost" thriller has been given a bit of a makeover by the author and comes with a good forward by him too. The story involves rockets, satellites and the security service. Given the publication date it was written when the Cold War and the Berlin Wall were still facets of life. My first thoughts as I followed Martin on his quest for the truth was that this was a little dated. What surprised me as I continued to read it was just how little that was and how it didn't bother me.

Sure - some aspects such as mobiles phones and the like gave it a dated feel. Equally it did feel a little naïve at times. However the pace and tension was very good indeed. There were some interesting characters roaming the pages too. There were times when I thought it was a bit simplistic but in the end I enjoyed reading this book. I have some doubts it will be in the best sellers list however there will be plenty of people interested in reading this book by Ian Rankin and certainly fans who missed it should enjoy it.

Ian Rankin is one of my favourite authors and I’ve read most of his books but somehow missed this one when it was first published. However, as the author explains in the introduction it was overlooked in 1990, so no surprise then! This is a republication with a bit of ‘tweaking’, of the late 80’s work. This period of time is very different to ours in that mobile phones aren’t in wide use but there are car phones, people use philofax for their contacts/appointments etc instead of iPhones, information from your computer is stored on floppy discs and music is largely on tape rather than download. So yes, it’s different but it’s also not. National security was/is a major issue, there were/are economic difficulties, there was/is political upheaval (I’m British so say no more), there was/is mistrust and there was/is surveillance although that it almost certainly greater than 1990. Surveillance is a big theme in this novel which makes this book just as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. In fact, I’m struck by how far seeing Rankin was as some of the things that occurs in the book have some similarities to a recent BBC drama ‘Capture’.

This conspiracy novel starts when contact is lost with British satellite Zephyr for 3 minutes and 40 seconds. Martin Hepton who works at a monitoring base in Lincolnshire and is puzzled by this loss especially when shortly after this the US space shuttle Argos malfunctions on its return to earth with British astronaut Major Michael Dreyfuss the only survivor. Combine these two events with protests surrounding US troop withdrawal from Europe with the army on standby and you have a tense thriller on your hands!

This is a fast paced action novel full of excitement, there is murder by an assassin who would give Nikita a run for her money as Hepton, Dreyfuss and members of MI5, MI6 and the CIA pursue the truth. What transpires is a massive conspiracy on a trans global scale and some enemies who are so well hidden as to be almost invisible. The end is packed full of everything yo like to see in an action movie (think Mission Impossible, Jason Bourne etc) and you find yourself having to think about taking a breath! The vast plot is quietly hushed up which is no great surprise but sometimes hiding truth is for the greater good.

Overall, a darn good read as you would expect from the master that is Ian Rankin. Did I mention he is one of my favourite authors 😂

Westwind is a re-issue of one of Ian Rankin's first books,from 1990 just before the Rebus series really took off.
The book is something a bit different for Rankin fans and the new version starts with an introduction from the author telling of the beginning of his writing career and Westwind's , mostly un-noticed it has to be said,part in it.
Rankin tells us how the book has been tweaked and polished for the new edition, it does show it's age in places, his hero is a "leg man" and a couple or observations he makes about a couple of female characters seem a bit "off" these days.

The story itself holds up quite well and doesn't seem out of place in a market where re-released books from the same era by Peter May are best-sellers second time around.

Martin Hepton works for the Zephyr program,he's part of a team that monitors images sent by the spy satellite of the same name. When a colleague who raises concerns about some of the images he's seen disappears almost immediately afterwards Hepton decides to investigate and kicks off a series of events that weave a tale of treachery, conspiracy and political chicanery with a female killer stalking him to make it not one of his better weeks. While strange things are being noticed at the Zephyr program American air shuttle Argos crash lands with the only British crew member, Mike Dreyfuss, surviving. To add some spice Hepton and Dreyfuss are joined in their search for the truth by reporter Jilly Watson ,who has "history" with both men.

It's not Rankin's best book, as he's the first to admit ,but it's fun and an easy read, I passed a wet and windy off reading it from start to finish. Older readers will fondly remember some of the cultural references, the days when central locking in cars was worthy of mention, a character looking forward to a slap up lunch at a top London eatery with the "10 crisp new £1 notes" in his pocket that he's just taken from a cash machine and the high speed chase featuring a Vauxhall Cavalier .One thing I loved was this bit of early Rankin prose,you don't get descriptions like this in any Rebus novel, "" Stewart's eyes were as murky as prunes swimming in Semolina"...great stuff.

To sum up,it's an early Rankin book that isn't as polished and believable as the Rebus series but it still holds up a very good adventure yarn . If you enjoyed Peter May's ,"The Man With No face" and the Horowitz Bond books you'll enjoy this as well. As a complete change from Rebus I'm sure this will do very well and I for one am pleased Ian Rankin has given it a new lease of life.