The Jazz , by Melissa Scott, celebrates the art of rumor-mongering in the virtual reality of cyberspace, and how ephemeral gossip can affect the real world very concretely. This is an adventure for those of you who live inside the constructs of your imagination just as fully as those folks jet-skiing their lives away. The Jazz is a welcome addition to the hacker-thriller genre known to mainstream audiences mainly through the film industry via such flicks as Hackers , S neakers and Jumpin' Jack Flash .
Jazz is an artform of misinformation and disinformation on the net.
Having hacked his way into possession of a powerful program, which enables him to enhance his jazz, Keyz unwittingly detonates the wrath of one nasty egocentric corporate suit by the name of Gerretty. Realizing that the hell hounds of legality are set to devour him and his parents whole, Keyz turns to the techie Tin Lizzy for salvation. In Tin Lizzy, Scott creates a memorable heroine who refuses to back down even when the cocked gun is literally to her head. There's more than a little of the prostitute with a heart of gold in Lizzy's make-up. Tin Lizzy finds her way out of a hellish life through the somewhat questionable efforts of a computer teacher by the name of Russ Conti, and her return to her old stomping grounds reveals what happens to those who didn't find an escape route.