The Drawing of the Three – Stephen King (1987)

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King, published in 1987, is the second book in The Dark Tower series. Following The Gunslinger, it continues Roland Deschain’s journey toward the Dark Tower. Awakening on a beach plagued by monstrous creatures, Roland encounters three mysterious doors leading to New York in different time periods. Through these doors, he must “draw” three individuals – a heroin-addicted smuggler, a woman with a fractured mind, and a dangerous sociopath. As Roland navigates these new challenges, his fate intertwines with theirs, shaping the path to the Tower.

Plot Summary

The gunslinger woke on the cold, hard sand with the sound of the Western Sea crashing against the shore. The man in black was gone, leaving only bones and dust where he had once sat. Roland Deschain, last of the gunslingers, was alone. His body, battered and exhausted from his long journey, had grown weaker in the night. He tried to rise, but something moved in the darkness, clicking and chattering. The lobstrosities came skittering from the waves – monstrous creatures with snapping claws and empty, pitiless eyes. One lunged before he could react, its serrated beak shearing off two fingers from his right hand and the tip of his big toe.

Blood poured from the wounds. The infection set in quickly. He knew death stalked him now, as surely as those creatures waited in the tide, eager for another bite. He staggered up the beach, his guns heavy on his hips, the missing fingers making them clumsy in his grip. The cards had been laid before him by the man in black – The Prisoner, The Lady of Shadows, and The Pusher. Three figures, three doors, three fates. If he could not find them, his quest would end here, on this nameless beach, with his body left for the waves.

Then, he saw the first door. Standing alone on the sand, as if it had always been there. Above it, written in the High Speech, were the words: The Prisoner. He reached out and turned the knob, and the world changed.

The stench of sweat and stale air rushed at him. The roar of engines. Voices muttering in a tongue he barely understood. He was no longer on the beach. He was inside another man. Looking through his eyes. Feeling his thoughts. A man named Eddie Dean.

Eddie sat in an airplane high above the ocean, hands clenched, nerves frayed. Two pounds of cocaine were strapped under his arms, hidden beneath his shirt. He was a smuggler, a junkie, a man desperate to keep his brother from being crushed under the weight of a debt he could never pay. But now something was wrong. Something had changed. He felt another presence, cold and foreign, inside his head. Panic rose in his throat, and suddenly, he saw them – the blue eyes staring at him from the mirror. Eyes that did not belong to him.

Roland pulled back, allowing the man to move as he would. But Eddie was no fool. He knew something had happened, even if he didn’t understand it. He made it through customs, smooth-talking his way past the guards, but Roland had seen the danger before Eddie did. The men waiting outside. Balazar’s men. Eddie had been set up.

There was no choice. Roland took control. The gunslinger’s mind, sharp and calculating, moved through Eddie’s limbs like they were his own. When the bullets started flying in Balazar’s hideout, it was Roland who shot straight, who moved fast, who turned a death sentence into an escape. Blood soaked the carpet, bodies hit the ground, and Eddie stood breathless in the wreckage of his life. He was free of Balazar, free of his addiction for now, but not free of Roland.

The door opened again. The gunslinger was back on the beach, and Eddie was with him. Sick and shivering, ripped from the world he had known, but alive. The second door was waiting.

The Lady of Shadows.

This time, the door opened to a different world. The city was the same – New York, a world away from Mid-World – but the time had changed. Roland stepped into the mind of a woman. Odetta Holmes was beautiful, rich, and kind. She was a fighter, an activist, and a woman bound to a wheelchair. But she was not alone inside her own mind. There was another. Detta Walker – savage, cruel, and filled with a hatred that burned hotter than any flame.

Roland had drawn her, but which one had he brought? Odetta or Detta?

They traveled together, but it did not take long for Roland to see the truth. Odetta was gentle, lost in dreams and gaps in her memory. But when sleep took her, or when the moment was right, Detta came forward, hissing and snarling, ready to tear them apart. She did not trust them. She did not believe them. And she would kill them both the first chance she got.

Eddie, still reeling from the shock of Roland’s world, saw something else in her. A beauty, a strength, something worth fighting for. Roland had seen the way Eddie looked at her, and he had seen it before. He knew where that road led, and he knew it was not always a kind one.

The beach stretched onward. The Tower was still far. There was one door left.

The Pusher.

Roland stepped through for the last time and found himself in the mind of a monster. Jack Mort. A man with no conscience, no remorse. A man who pushed people in front of cars, who dropped bricks from rooftops, who had no reason for the suffering he caused other than the pleasure it gave him.

Roland saw what he had done. The boy, Jake, the one he had sacrificed, the one who had fallen screaming. Jack Mort had been the one who had pushed him. And now, he was hunting another victim – Odetta. She had been his before. He had been the one who took her legs. And he would have taken the rest of her, had Roland not been inside his mind.

There was no redemption for this one. No chance to change. Roland took the body, seized control, and used it to steal what he needed – ammunition, medicine, supplies. He did what had to be done, and when the time came, he left Jack Mort where he belonged – beneath the wheels of an oncoming train.

The door closed behind him for the last time. Eddie was there. Odetta was there. No, not Odetta – not anymore. The two minds, two souls that had fought for so long, had become one. She was Susannah now. A new name. A new life.

The Tower still stood, distant and unreachable. The road to it was long, and the dangers ahead were still unknown. But now Roland was no longer alone. He had drawn them, as the cards had foretold. The Prisoner. The Lady of Shadows. And now, together, they would move forward.

Toward whatever waited at the end of the path.

Main Characters

• Roland Deschain – The last gunslinger, dedicated to reaching the Dark Tower. Wounded and weakened, he must recruit three allies from another world to continue his quest.
• Eddie Dean – A heroin-addicted smuggler from 1980s New York. Though flawed, he has a strong will and untapped potential. He struggles with his addiction but proves to be a valuable ally.
• Odetta Holmes / Detta Walker – A double-minded woman from the 1960s. Odetta is kind and intelligent, while Detta is vengeful and violent. Her internal battle threatens Roland’s mission.
• Jack Mort – A remorseless sociopath who causes pain and destruction without emotion. Roland must decide how to deal with him when their paths cross.

Theme

• Fate and Destiny – Roland’s journey suggests an inevitable path. His need to “draw” specific individuals indicates a larger, unseen force guiding events.
• Duality of Human Nature – Odetta and Detta symbolize the war between light and darkness within a person, showing how trauma and experience shape identity.
• Addiction and Redemption – Eddie Dean’s heroin addiction represents chains that bind him, but his journey with Roland gives him a chance at redemption.
• Sacrifice and Survival – Roland loses fingers, battles infection, and risks his life, showing the relentless sacrifices needed to reach the Tower.
• Doors as a Symbol of Transformation – The mysterious doors represent passage between worlds, but also personal transformation for those who step through.

Writing Style and Tone

Stephen King’s writing in The Drawing of the Three is immersive, blending elements of fantasy, horror, and gritty realism. He masterfully shifts between Roland’s medieval Western world and the stark, chaotic streets of New York, making each setting feel vivid and distinct. Dialogue is sharp and character-driven, while action sequences are intense and cinematic.

The tone is dark and suspenseful, yet often laced with grim humor. King balances moments of horror with deep character introspection, making the novel as much about inner struggles as external dangers. The pacing is relentless, keeping tension high as Roland fights for his survival while forging uneasy alliances with his new companions.