Ian Rankin will discuss his recently re-launched lost novel, Westwind, with bestselling crime author Stuart MacBride at an exclusive event during Book Week Scotland.
Published for the first time in almost 30 years, the espionage thriller about spies, satellites and a global conspiracy of sinister surveillance, is strikingly relevant in today’s political climate.
Tickets for the event, Saturday 23 November, 7.30pm at the Apex Hotel in Dundee, can be purchased HERE.
After a fan told Rankin they had enjoyed Westwind, he re-read it for the first time since its original publication in 1990, leading him to reconnect with the novel. He returned to the manuscript with his publisher, Akhtar, changing some aspects from the first edition in order for the book to join the rest of his backlist in print.
Westwind is set in Europe, 1990. As the US begins to pull out its troops in a tide of isolationism, Britain is torn between its loyalties to the USA and its continental neighbours. In America, a space shuttle crashes on landing, killing all but one of the crew on-board: A British man named Mike Dreyfuss, who will become vilified by the US press and protesters. Halfway across the world, Martin Hepton, an English ground control technician watches as they lose contact with the most advanced satellite in Europe. A colleague of Hepton’s who suspects something strange is going on is signed off sick, and never comes back. Hepton decides to investigate his friend’s suspicions and his trail leads him to Dreyfuss, MI6, the American military, and back to his former girlfriend, Jill, who is an up-and-coming journalist with the contacts and the courage to cover the story.
Rankin is best known for the Rebus series of novels.
Book Week Scotland is the national celebration of reading and writing, and will run this year from 18-24 November 2019, centred on the theme of conversation. Hundreds of free events will take place across the country: the full programme can be viewed HERE.
Working with a wide range of partners, Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing, will deliver a diverse range of events and activities, many tying in with the Year of Conversation, including the Digital Festival with free events that can be accessed online by all.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “We’re very excited to be hosting an exclusive Book Week Scotland event with two of Scotland’s finest crime writers. Despite being almost three decades old, Westwind proves to remain topical in the current climate. Fittingly, the theme of Book Week Scotland this year is conversation, and I’m sure this lost novel will prompt fascinating conversations with readers of Ian Rankin.”
Westwind is a thrill-ride of espionage suspense set in Britain and America, in the near future from when the novel was originally published in 1990. It follows two main characters, Martin Hepton and Mike Dreyfuss, as they start unravelling a global conspiracy involving space shuttles and satellites – an undertaking which threatens their very lives.
Joining Rankin for an exclusive Book Week Scotland crime event is Stuart MacBride, bestselling Sunday Times author. His latest novel, All That’s Dead (Harper Collins), is the thirteenth in the series and continues the story of Inspector Logan McRae.
During the event, there will be an opportunity for questions from the audience. There will be book signings after the event, supported by Waterstones.
Ian Rankin said: ‘Book Week Scotland is always a joy, a great way to celebrate Scotland’s phenomenal array of authors, books and publishers – not forgetting all the enthusiastic readers of every age. I’m chuffed that Westwind will play a part this year.’
Book Week Scotland also features a fundraising initiative, Big Book Swap, to support Scottish Book Trust. Join hundreds of schools, workplaces and community groups on Friday 22 November to swap books and raise money to help Scottish Book Trust to continue to support people in Scotland to reach their potential through reading and writing. To sign up and receive your free fundraising guide, visit Big Book Swap.
Visit www.scottishbooktrust.com for more details.
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