Page Count:  463

Author:  Stephen King

Publisher:  Signet/Penguin Group

ISBN:  0-451-16352-4

Category:  Fiction

Genre:  Drama/Sci-Fi (?)

Dove's (Personal) Review:  OK, here's the deal. For my own sanity, I'm not going to write a review here. What follows is a basic outline of what happens in this book so I can keep the facts straight in my head later on. When I read a "series" of books, I tend to have a hard time remembering what happened in which book. So, for "reference purposes" only (since I'm such a scatter brain at times), I thought an outline would be the best thing for me to do. Which means, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS BOOK YET BUT PLAN TO AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER BECAUSE THIS WILL SPOIL EVERYTHING FOR YOU....

- The Drawing of the Three picks up seven hours after the end of The Gunslinger.
- Roland is "camping out" on the beach.
- He comes face to face with some sea-monsters (later referred to as Lobstrosities). They are huge lobster-looking creatures with an appetite for flesh.
- He's attacked by one of the Lobstrosities, losing two fingers (on the same hand) and a toe. He's also poisoned from the bite(s).
- While on the beach, he finds a door that opens to our world. Through this door he is seeing our world through the eyes of Eddie Dean ("The Prisoner" tarot card).
- Eddie is a junkie; a heroine addict.
- Eddie's brother, Henry, is killed by a mob of drug lords.
- Roland learns how to enter Eddie's body/mind through the door, enabling him to control Eddie's every move.
- As Eddie, Roland gets medicine (Keflex) for his infection from the Lobstrosity bite. He also manages to save Eddie from certain death by bringing him through the door back to Roland's world.
- They both travel north along the beach to door number two. This door opens to our world also, but it opens to a different time/era. It's the early 60s, back when Kennedy is shot. Through this door Roland looks through the eyes of Odetta Susannah Holmes/Detta Susannah Walker.
- Odetta Susannah Holmes/Detta Susannah Walker is a crippled (both her legs are gone from the knees down), schizophrenic black woman. She lost her legs when she was pushed in front of a moving subway car.
- Roland brings Odetta/Detta back to his world also.
- Eddie falls in love with Odetta, but both Eddie and Roland are horrified by Detta (the evil half of Odetta's schizophrenic personality).
- Roland runs out of the Keflex antibiotic and needs more. He gets sick again, leaving Eddie and Odetta to find the third door on their own.
- They find it. Eddie leaves Odetta at the door by herself so he can carry Roland to the door in Odetta's wheelchair.
- When Eddie and Roland get back to "Door #3," Odetta is gone. Detta has taken over but is hiding from the men. She wants to ambush and kill them both.
- The third door opens and this time Roland sees through Jack Mort, "the pusher," in our world.
- Roland "takes over" Jack Mort's body/mind and soon discovers Mort is responsible for pushing Jake, the boy (from The Gunslinger), into traffic where he is run down and killed. (When Jake dies in our world, he enters Roland's world in the first book.)
- Roland then learns Mort is the one who threw the brick at Detta Walker when she was a little girl, putting her into a coma.... Mort is also the same man who, later on, pushes Odetta in front of the subway car.
- Roland battles with Jack Mort, letting Odetta/Detta witness the subway incident. This "time travel/paradox" frees Odetta/Detta from their schizophrenic tendencies, creating two individual minds (though they still share the same body); each mind remaining controllable, one able to call upon the other when needed.
- Before Roland kills off Jack Mort for good, he uses Mort's body to get more antibiotics to bring back to his world. He also goes shopping for ammunition for his two revolvers. He brings back plenty of both.
- Seconds before Jack Mort dies, Roland leaps out of his body back through the door to the beach, where he rejoins Eddie and Odetta.
- Roland finds that Detta has Eddie tied up on the beach, leaving him for the Lobstrosities to kill.
- Roland tries to save Eddie but he's too weak from the infection. Odetta steps in to help. While she's cutting Eddie free Roland realizes she's "different" somehow. When he asks her if she's Detta or Odetta, she replies with, "I am three women." The two split personalities have formed a third. The third is called Susan (a derivative from the middle name "Susannah" that both Detta/Odetta share).
- Susan eventually frees Eddie from the Lobstrosities.
- Roland, Eddie and Susan head to the woods, continuing the quest to find the Dark Tower.
- Eddie and Susan get married... now Susan is called "Susannah Dean."
- In the woods they find a deer to kill/eat. They also eat grass and weeds for "greens." They make a camp, and plan to stay there temporarily while Roland recovers fully from the infection.
- The book ends there, continuing on in book three, The Waste Lands.
- The phrase "the drawing of the three" [apparently] refers to Roland bringing forth (or "drawing out") three different identities from one woman's body, Detta, Odetta and Susannah.

     If you decided to read the outline anyway, I'm sure you're somewhat confused with the Odetta/Detta/Susan/Susannah stuff. Read the book. It'll all make perfect sense once you read it, trust me.
     The time travel/paradox stuff is a little confusing also, but it's all spelled out in The Waste Lands, book three... especially in regards to Jake, "the boy" from The Gunslinger.
     The Drawing of the Three is definitely a much better book/story than The Gunslinger. Details and story-lines are falling into place, and lots of questions are answered in this one. It's a great book!!!!
     TWO THUMBS UP!!!!!! GOLD STAR!!!!!!