What happens when the illegal drug you’re taking splits your personality? That’s exactly what happens to Bob Arctor, a dealer addicted to Substance D, street name “Death.”

Fred is a narcotics officer assigned to monitor’s Bob’s activities. Only one problem. Bob and Fred are the same guy. Arctor’s situation becomes even more complex when the police set up holographic surveillance equipment in his house where he lives with two other junkies, Barris and Luckman.

Meanwhile, Arctor continues to buy Substance D from a young woman named Donna Hawthorne in hopes of getting to her supplier, but instead, falls in love with her. Eventually, Arctor’s addiction destroys his brain and lands him in a rehab center engaging its own nefarious activities.

While not my favorite Philip K. Dick novel (that’s a tie between Ubik and Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said), he does a phenomenal job of portraying the brutal reality of drug addiction and its devastating effects on the mind and body. Dick’s invention of the “scramble suit” is a clever plot device that allows Fred to go unrecognized among this fellow officers and eventually, to Barris who attempts to betray Arctor to the police in Fred’s presence. Buckle up for a wild ride.