A Wonderful Honest Examination of Addiction Under the Guise of Sci-Fi - Rated 
I felt compelled to read this book after seeing the film, as my first PKD novel, i loved it.
Bob Arctur is an undercover drug enforcement officer, trying to break a drugs ring peddling a fictitious drug known as Substance D, (clearly similar in nature to the real drug crystal meth aka P). It's highly addictive, cheap to make and acquire and endemic to the point of social collapse. Its main side effect is to cause the right and left hemispheres of the brain to separate, resulting in the user being unable to differentiate fantasy from reality.
Due to all agents wearing 'scramble suits' which protect their identity, Bob bizarrely ends up surveying himself. Scanners (3D cameras) are installed in his home and he spends hours watching himself with other drug users. Compounded by his growing addiction to substance D he starts to see Bob on the scanners not as himself, but just another drug user. His paranoia, loss of cognition, reason and identity slowly slip away in a far more gradual, poignant and tragic manner than the film could ever hope to convey and makes for some fascinating scenarios.
It's perhaps the most accurate and honest examination of the debilitating consequences of drug addiction that I've read and highlights the reasons drugs like P are so pervasive in modern culture and the repercussions associated with them.
All this is wrapped in a neat and concise sci-fi setting which is at times, funny, tender, thrilling and riveting. Highly recommended.
Drugs misuse and psychology. - Rated 
"A Scanner Darkly" mainly focuses on the characters rather than the plot. Though it is loosely science fiction, the book revolves around the characters and how drugs have affected their lives, and the price they have to pay because of it.
The general plot is as follows: Bob Arctor is an undercover narcotics agent, living amongst other drug users. However, when he becomes addicted to "Substance D", he is as dependent on the drug as everyone else...
The story goes into much more depth towards the end of the novel, however.
My only criticsm is that, though quite in depth and full of metaphors, the story is not quite as good as that of Dick's other novels that I have read, but it is definetley worth a read, especially if you are a fan of Philip K. Dick.
Dark, scary book about drugs by one who has been there - Rated
Dick doesn't just write about drugs, or paranoia -- he has really been there. This is a truly great book (much better than the film, though that wasn't too bad), touching on all the issues about drugs - the doper scene, the paranoia, the obsession, the blurry line between the good and bad guys, and the dodgy politics and practices of some of the 'anti-drug ' institutions.
Read it if you need any further education as to why the "War on Drugs", like the "War on Terror", is doomed to failure.
Simply brilliant! - Rated
This is one of my three favourite books (the others being 'The Affirmation' by Christopher Priest and 'Leviathan' by Paul Auster). Philip K. Dick wrote a huge number of books - some of which were IMHO very weak (in the sense of being slight nonsense e.g. 'Galactic Pot Healer') and others which are brilliant in their extrapolating of potentially 'present day' situations into fiction which questions reality and so helps to provide perspectives on our existence. Written like this, you might think that this sounds like pretentious nonsense instead of the slight nonsense mentioned earlier. However, books like 'Man in the High Castle' and 'A Scanner Darkly' are eminently and enjoyably readable but contain so much of interest that they can be read again and again. PKD had used hallucinogenic drugs and the majority of his books question reality using the form of Science Fiction. He specifically asked that 'A Scanner Darkly was classified as fiction rather than the sub-category of Science-Fiction, because he wanted it to reach a wider audience. There are no 'bug-eyed monsters' here, unless in imagination - just an undercover cop who, intriguingly is asked to spy on himself. Enjoy and enter into a different milieu!
Disturbing but brilliant - Rated
This is by far my favourite Philip K Dick book and I've loved many of his books a lot so this says much about the way I feel. I read "A Scanner Darkly" in high school and it hasn't left me yet. One of those reading experiences that leave a mark on you for a long long time. So strong in many ways.
The book is fascinating, thrilling, sometimes even funny but mostly scarry and disturbing. I had for a long time a desire to read this one again and finally, I did read it and was completely amazed once again. From the page one the story and the charachters took on hold on me. Still after many months the images are there. And theres this strange desire to open the book again. Why? The only explanation I can think of is simply this: that the book is just so good. Dick is brilliant writer. His style is fluent and easy to follow and his imagination is fast and witty. This is not a book by some disturbed mind. Maybe the he was disturbed in many ways but his mind was clear - at least while he was writing this.
This of course is my personal experience and I know that, maybe you'll find the book dissapoiting. In many ways there no reason to like this book. It drags sometimes and there repetition and it's about the most depressing book there is - but it is fascinating. Not really a scifi book. More like an study about man's struggle not to face reality and his desperate search for alternative comforts. No flying cars and laserguns here. Just human existence explored.
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