The Seurat Construct

The Burdened Air #1

by David S. Wellhauser

For Francis Bacon—‘Revenge is a kind of wild justice’. For Sandu Barr, it was all which remained to him in the years since his wife’s enigmatic death.

Drawn across cities, countries, and continents by ludic memories and quixotic chimaeras, Sandu is fired by the pursuit of what happened, why, and—above all—for those responsible. Still, he’d no real expectation of success until that evening in the industrial basin.

The cryptic encounter—hard on the docks—with the figure scuttling down the ruined, derelict streets offered the first genuine opportunity in years. From this a widening gyre of gesture, absurdity, battle ballet, metaphysical elusion, and political in-fighting emerged. Detail nearly drowning sense and purpose.
Helped by dream, a jade-eyed, black grimalkin of mixed purpose, a hesitant, self-righteous cabal, and his own rage he stalks a tableau of characters and elusive endgames which cross time, M-Theory, myth, folklore, eschatology, and the burdened air of revolutionary wrath and justice.

Cosseting these is an exegetical, if suspicious, promise of redemption.

The Seurat Construct is Book I of ‘The Burdened Air’. This is followed by The Dog Particle, Book II and conclusion of ‘The Burdened Air’.

405 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2013

About the author

David S. Wellhauser was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Wellhauser acquired both a Bachelor's and a Master's from the University of Guelph (English Literature). Over the years the author has lived and worked in many countries and travelled in many others. Presently he is an Assistant Professor, in the Department of Liberal Education, at Keimyung University, Daegu, The Republic of Korea. Mr. Wellhauser has lived in East Asia for many years.

Drawing on a number of genres the author's work wanders from literary thriller to psychological suspense, slipstream, and literary mash-ups. Much of their writing has been influenced by Magical Realism, Contemporary/Urban Fantasy, and many others as well.

The author has been influenced by a broad swathe of novelists, playwrights, and poets. Those such as Shakespeare, Donne, Dostoyevsky, Sterne, Rabelais, Virgil, Homer, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Russell Hoban, and many others spring immediately to mind.

But they have also been influenced by geopolitics, realpolitik, history, economics, business, the social sciences, science, fringe science, travel, and conversations and arguments with many interesting and crazy people over the years.

Traditions which make their way into this writer's work are: Fantasy, Science Fiction, World Literature, Gritty or Hard-boiled Crime Fiction, Philosophy, Gnostic Dementia, Nihilism, Genre Re-inscription, and Realpolitik.

The author's intention is to reveal character at the frontier of experience and humanity. From this oxygen deprived environment, identity and action buckle psychological topographies, revealing a new and disturbing landscape bounded by a razor wire narrative and laced with amorality.

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wellhauser never ceases to amaze readers with his unusual and thought provoking reads. His gift is exquisite and he knows exactly how to really push his fans to the edge. This story in question is complex, yet easy to understand if one takes time. It's a fabulous debut, which leaves just enough questions to be answered in time for a sequel. It was a lot of information to digest at once, but the characters portrayed throughout facilitate our journey. Poignant and unforgettable, a phenomenal mystery which will keep one hanging on to the very end.