Trilemma

A whim takes American businesswoman Linnet “Lin” Mere back to the New Zealand of her birth in Mortimer’s promising, if uneven, debut. Lin plans to connect with relatives she has never met, the family her father abandoned when he left them for Lin’s mother. She also wants to rekindle her relationship with an estranged ex-boyfriend, Ben. Lin finds a rewarding position as the CEO of Hera, a new but ambitious telecommunications company, sparking a ruthless war for corporate dominance for which she is more than prepared. What Lin is unprepared for, and indeed unaware of, is an undeclared enemy willing to use murder to stop her. This plot strand comes across as an out-of-place attempt to heighten the suspense of this character-driven novel. In contrast, Lin’s exploration of a New Zealand not nearly as egalitarian and post-racial as it initially seems, her professional struggles, and her attempts to overcome self-doubt are convincing and often fascinating. (Feb.)