A Scanner Darkly

Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly is a dark and sombre look at drug culture in the near future (at least, the near future of the near past). It's unlike most of Dick's other stories (at least those I've read) in that it really is a study of character under pressure, rather than a series of shotgun blasts of ideas. It's a eulogy to friends the author lost to drugs in the sixties - not praising, not condemning, but looking sadly at the effects of drugs on the psyche.

The protagonist, Bob Arctor, is an undercover cop trying to infiltrate the drugs scene. To fully immerse himself, he has become addicted to Substance D, a powerful drug, and the drug starts to take its toll on him as the story progresses. We witness this from his perspective, which is often abrupt and difficult to follow, particularly so once his perspective becomes more and more warped by the drugs. It's very well done, and well worth a read.