So a bunch of demi-corporate tech groups mostly run the Net, and are now conspiring to get the last few percent locked down. Also, jazz is illegal in Venice. Counter-conspiracy occurs among people who want to free the Net and also jazz. This ought to be good stuff, except, one, it's hard to take the jazz thing seriously -- the Venetian choirs have all been coopted to sing Handel and Palestrina to keep everybody's minds placid. Jazz and rock must be stamped out! Whatever. And two, the protagonist has a terrible case of tell-don't-show. She manages to make all her discoveries of conspiracies and murder and aliens (spoiler, there are aliens) sound run-of-the-mill. It's a pity, because the future-of-1997-Internet cyberspace is pretty juicy and so is the society and its crazy mask fashions, Baroque mind-control aside.