Book 13: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick

I won't go as far as saying that I enjoyed this book--it's dark--but it's also fascinating. 

Dick's Earth is ravaged by global warming with daytime temperatures of 180 degrees. People need to wear a special cooling apparatus to venture outside. Conditions are even worse for the Colonials on Mars and other planets. Their grim existence is only bearable with the use of a drug Can-D to stimulate an artificial reality enhanced with props from Perky Pat Layouts. 

Palmer Eldritch offers another option--an alien hallucinogen Chew Z--in which Eldritch seemingly controls the artificial reality. 

The novel also explores religious and evolutionary themes. I am looking forward to reading the other two novels in the collection I got at the Pequot Library sale.