In The Jazz, artists make a living creating entertaining disinformation for the Net, called jazz. Jazz is like the fusion of theater, PR, hacking and weblogging.

Tin Lizzy is an abused child who escapes a life of prostitution and pornography to become a premier jazz artist. She designs the elaborate settings where jazz unfolds. She aggrees to work with a 16-year old boy on a brilliant piece of jazz he has created. But she discovers that Keyz used a stolen piece of software to design his jazz, and soon Tin Lizzy and Keyz are on the run. The bulk of the book is taken up with a grand road trip as Tin Lizzy and Keyz desperately search for help.

Scott's plotting is tight and the end is satisfying. The book has all the elements one would expect from virtual-reality laden second generation cyberpunk, and yet it feels fresh. The book is published by TOR, a publisher I've slammed in the past for their use of gratuitous sex in SF novels. However, the sex in this book is an important part of the plotting and characterization. It fits into the story and makes sense.

The only fault I find in the book is that the secondary characters are underdeveloped. However, Tin Lizzy is fleshed out and fully realized -- and it was a delight for me to follow her exploits.

There are several cute jokes in The Jazz. The best has to do with the name of one of the best known jazz websites, one to which Tin Lizzy frequently sells her work: it's called Testify and it's owned by Jazzman08.