Corruption in [Dutch Shea, Jr.] is more than a theme; it is something of an obsession, almost an infatuation…. There is much mutilation and decay, plentiful autopsies and accidents, and though the life of a pimp lawyer is unlikely to be savoury in all its details, the glee behind the disgust becomes disturbing.

Even when there is no obvious occasion for revulsion, no severed nipple, no shredded baby, Dunne finds ways of letting the corruptible body know just what he thinks of it. It excretes, therefore it is. It bleeds, it farts, it develops blackheads. At funerals it sneezes, spraying the flag with mucus. It has cellulite deposits on its thighs….

The reader must be quite an aficionado of mucus properly to enjoy this book. Even when there is discharge aplenty on the level of action, the book further insists upon it…. But is this agonized suppurating Catholicism...