Eyeball Wars: A Novel of Dot-Com Intrigue

An internecine battle for readership (""eyeballs"") between an online Internet startup and its parent company, an established media giant, is the subject of Scott's fast-paced if poorly articulated first novel. Rich young playboy Richard Williams is cut off by his father, Pierce, a ruthless media tycoon who insists that his son begin to earn a living. Richard is put in charge of the new Internet division of his father's company, but dad also hobbles his heir by establishing a strict budget and hiring Jason Carpenter, a back-stabbing Internet hotshot, to compete with him. At first Richard flounders, but eventually he begins to figure out how to run the company. He decides to reinvent the site using a tabloid format, and his concept becomes an instant hit. The financial effort to establish the site proves a bigger hurdle, until Richard is aided by a mysterious venture capitalist and later by Mariko Suzuki, a young Japanese woman whose company is looking to invest in an American Internet startup. As the narrative progresses, the novelty of the Internet angle fades, and the book turns into a feel-good business success story with a romantic subplot involving Richard and Mariko. Scott injects some brio when he skewers the greed and fast-track lifestyles of the rich and famous, and he has an insider's perspective on the way deals get done in the dot-com world. His message that PR, spin and get-rich-quick schemes will be the ultimate legacy of the Internet is a cautionary tale indeed, but in all, this book, laden with brand names and hip locales, is for readers more comfortable with online lingo than graceful prose. (Jan.) Forecast: Despite its flaws, this title, with its catchy, pixillated cover, has potential to take off among the dot.com legions. The publisher's marketing plans seem well-aimed at the Net crowd, and include author appearances at Internet trade shows, direct mail to Internet professionals, and use in corporate gift packages (Freshspot claims that Internet companies have preordered hundreds of copies).