Illusive. (Illusive, vol. 1.)

The X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of "super" criminals. When the deadly MK virus swept across the planet, a vaccine was created to stop the epidemic, but it came with some unexpected side effects. A small percentage of the population developed superhero-like powers, and Americans suffering from these so-called adverse effects were given an ultimatum: Serve the country or be declared a traitor. Some people chose a third option: live a life of crime. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba has the handy ability to change her appearance at will. She's what's known as an illusionist. She's also a thief. After crossing a gang of mobsters, Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super powered criminals on a job that most would have considered impossible: a hunt for the formula that gave them their abilities. It was supposedly destroyed years ago--but what if it wasn't? Government agents are hot on their trail, and the lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment are blurred as Ciere and the rest of her crew become embroiled in a deadly race that could cost them their lives.

This slim volume hits hard at one major point: public relations practitoners need to abandon their dominant attitude of narrowly serving the needs of their clients and instead attempt to engender a broad-based sense of community. By approaching public relations from this broader perspective both the needs of the client and the community are served. Implicit in this theory is that a closer-knit community will retain more traditional family-based values and therefore comprise a more stable and appreciative economic unit for one's client. Canadian Journal of Communication

Public relations is commonly viewed as using persuasive communications to achieve a client's vested goal. Kruckeberg and Starck challenge this oversimplified approach, asserting that public relations is a complex, multi-flow process that should--and can--affect society as a whole. In Part I, they examine critically the historical definition and practice of public relations, outlining the shortcomings of this narrow approach. Part II explores how the community itself has changed. Such issues as the shift from rural to urban life and the attempt to regain a sense of community are discussed. Part III attempts to reconcile the authors' new notion of public relations and community through an in-depth case-study. The results lead the authors to conclude that only if public relations is practiced as an active attempt to build a sense of community can it become a full partner in the communications milieu.

"After a vaccine accidentally creates superpowers in a small percentage of the population, seventeen-year-old Ciere, an illusionist, teams up with a group of fellow high-class, super-powered thieves to steal the vaccine's formula while staying one step ahead of mobsters and deadly government agents"-- Provided by publisher