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By Her Own Hand
Madeline Crowne escapes a violent home, discovers love for the first time, but war and betrayal threaten to destroy it.
Seeking a world away from abuse, she joins the army. Her first deployment is Afghanistan. Initially a hero, she is later accused of a war crime she did not commit. On the run, near death, she is saved by a woman named Mira, a survivor of the civil wars of Lebanon.
Shared sorrows seem to form a perfect friendship, but in time desire and deceit cast shadows. Mira is an illegal arms dealer, drawing Madeline into an underworld as a means of seduction.
In another part of the Afghan war, Eliot Lange is accused of desertion as he tried to save a comrade. Panicked, he flees to America.
Madeline sees through Mira's duplicity, rejects her advances and finds a way home. Madeline and Eliot's paths intersect in their native Sacramento, where they fall in love, but the FBI is pursuing them. And Eliot is holding back a fearful secret, for he has a distant connection to Mira. Before he can confess, the FBI is closing in. Mira finds them first. Spurned, jealous, she has a plan for a perfect revenge.
Seeking a world away from abuse, she joins the army. Her first deployment is Afghanistan. Initially a hero, she is later accused of a war crime she did not commit. On the run, near death, she is saved by a woman named Mira, a survivor of the civil wars of Lebanon.
Shared sorrows seem to form a perfect friendship, but in time desire and deceit cast shadows. Mira is an illegal arms dealer, drawing Madeline into an underworld as a means of seduction.
In another part of the Afghan war, Eliot Lange is accused of desertion as he tried to save a comrade. Panicked, he flees to America.
Madeline sees through Mira's duplicity, rejects her advances and finds a way home. Madeline and Eliot's paths intersect in their native Sacramento, where they fall in love, but the FBI is pursuing them. And Eliot is holding back a fearful secret, for he has a distant connection to Mira. Before he can confess, the FBI is closing in. Mira finds them first. Spurned, jealous, she has a plan for a perfect revenge.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 16, 2025
About the author
Jack Deveny
2 books44 followersJack Deveny writes fiction based on strong female leads facing impossible odds. As an empath, he finds it easier to write from a woman’s point of view.
His first novel, “Blind Triangle” received five-star reviews from two of Amazon’s top reviewers. His second novel, “By Her Own Hand” deals with a woman struggling to hold on to love amidst war. He’s also had a play produced and several poems published.
When he’s not writing, he’s dancing Argentine tango with his beloved wife, Jackie as you can see from his author photo. Tango was Jack’s idea, but Jackie quickly gravitated to it.
He has an MA in psychology and worked for a time as a psychotherapist.
His first novel, “Blind Triangle” received five-star reviews from two of Amazon’s top reviewers. His second novel, “By Her Own Hand” deals with a woman struggling to hold on to love amidst war. He’s also had a play produced and several poems published.
When he’s not writing, he’s dancing Argentine tango with his beloved wife, Jackie as you can see from his author photo. Tango was Jack’s idea, but Jackie quickly gravitated to it.
He has an MA in psychology and worked for a time as a psychotherapist.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 9, 2026
First time for everything: a book I have given up on and will not finish. Not sure why I even downloaded this. It popped up as a Goodreads recommendation. It is not anywhere in the genres I read. It’s post-War in Afghanistan. 2 vets on the run from something: fbi, cia, MP, some other shadowy orgs. 20% in and it’s not clear who from or why. But also they are searching for other vets (a brother & a friend). They don’t seem to make smart decisions trying to evade these shadow orgs. And that’s where I gave up.
It’s also written stream of consciousness with abrupt point of view jumping (no break or warning), so it’s difficult to kernel up with whose thoughts you are reading.
It’s also written stream of consciousness with abrupt point of view jumping (no break or warning), so it’s difficult to kernel up with whose thoughts you are reading.
December 29, 2025
‘One cruelty creates another. It has to stop somewhere’ – A superb new novel!
California author Jack Deveny blends his gifts as a psychotherapist, empath, poet, playwright, and novelist with the very welcome arrival of his second novel BY HER OWN HAND. His initial novel, BLIND TRIANGLE, struck a chord of resonance with this reader, and it is most satisfying to share that his power as an author of significance continues to grow: his ability to sculpt strong female leads to pace his propelling stories of military fiction places him on the stage of prominent authors.
Establishing an atmosphere to captivate attention is a skill Deveny owns, as the opening lines of this immersive novel reveal: ‘Eliot Lange knew it was only a matter of time until his best friend, Will Madsen, did something deadly. It had to happen, but when would it be? ...Eliot had been forced to go and fight in Afghanistan in 2012, by his military father as a punishment. But Will had not needed to go. So, why had he insisted on doing so? What possible difference could two men from Sacramento, in their early twenties, make in a land where war might never end? And why would Will, by far the gentler of the two, take up arms?...’
Deveny’s central character, Madeline Crowne, reflects his own history of early years dealing with an abusive, drug addled, violent environment: Crowne has escaped a violent home, and as the distilled story reveals, she ‘discovers love for the first time, but war and betrayal threated to destroy it. Seeking a world away from abuse, she joins the army. Her first deployment is Afghanistan. Initially a hero, she is later accused of a war crime she did not commit. On the run, near death, she is saved by a woman named Mira, a survivor of the civil wars of Lebanon. Shared sorrows seem to form a perfect friendship, but in time desire and deceit cast shadows. Mira is an illegal arms dealer, drawing Madeline into an underworld as a means of seduction. In another part of the Afghan war, Eliot Lange is accused of desertion as he tried to save a comrade. Panicked, he flees to America. Madeline sees through Mira's duplicity, rejects her advances and finds a way home. Madeline and Eliot's paths intersect in their native Sacramento, where they fall in love, but the FBI is pursuing them. And Eliot is holding back a fearful secret, for he has a distant connection to Mira. Before he can confess, the FBI is closing in. Mira finds them first. Spurned, jealous, she has a plan for a perfect revenge.’
Great characters and an immersive plot, this book further elevates the position of this author on the ladder of successful novelists. Highly recommended
California author Jack Deveny blends his gifts as a psychotherapist, empath, poet, playwright, and novelist with the very welcome arrival of his second novel BY HER OWN HAND. His initial novel, BLIND TRIANGLE, struck a chord of resonance with this reader, and it is most satisfying to share that his power as an author of significance continues to grow: his ability to sculpt strong female leads to pace his propelling stories of military fiction places him on the stage of prominent authors.
Establishing an atmosphere to captivate attention is a skill Deveny owns, as the opening lines of this immersive novel reveal: ‘Eliot Lange knew it was only a matter of time until his best friend, Will Madsen, did something deadly. It had to happen, but when would it be? ...Eliot had been forced to go and fight in Afghanistan in 2012, by his military father as a punishment. But Will had not needed to go. So, why had he insisted on doing so? What possible difference could two men from Sacramento, in their early twenties, make in a land where war might never end? And why would Will, by far the gentler of the two, take up arms?...’
Deveny’s central character, Madeline Crowne, reflects his own history of early years dealing with an abusive, drug addled, violent environment: Crowne has escaped a violent home, and as the distilled story reveals, she ‘discovers love for the first time, but war and betrayal threated to destroy it. Seeking a world away from abuse, she joins the army. Her first deployment is Afghanistan. Initially a hero, she is later accused of a war crime she did not commit. On the run, near death, she is saved by a woman named Mira, a survivor of the civil wars of Lebanon. Shared sorrows seem to form a perfect friendship, but in time desire and deceit cast shadows. Mira is an illegal arms dealer, drawing Madeline into an underworld as a means of seduction. In another part of the Afghan war, Eliot Lange is accused of desertion as he tried to save a comrade. Panicked, he flees to America. Madeline sees through Mira's duplicity, rejects her advances and finds a way home. Madeline and Eliot's paths intersect in their native Sacramento, where they fall in love, but the FBI is pursuing them. And Eliot is holding back a fearful secret, for he has a distant connection to Mira. Before he can confess, the FBI is closing in. Mira finds them first. Spurned, jealous, she has a plan for a perfect revenge.’
Great characters and an immersive plot, this book further elevates the position of this author on the ladder of successful novelists. Highly recommended
August 1, 2026
By Her Own Hand is a sweeping blend of war novel, psychological drama, romance, and fugitive thriller. Jack Deveny centers the story on Madeline Crowne and Eliot Lange, two decorated soldiers carrying the moral injuries of Afghanistan into an uncertain life back home. Both are haunted by civilian deaths, abandonment, and the fear that a single terrible moment has defined them forever. Their growing love gives the novel its emotional center, while accusations of war crimes, an international arms trafficker, and a relentless pursuit keep the story moving. The book’s subtitle, “War and passion in a woman’s wounded heart,” captures its central tension beautifully.
Madeline is the novel’s driving force. She’s fierce, vulnerable, sexually candid, and burdened by guilt that reaches back to her childhood and her brother John’s suffering. Her relationships with Eliot and Mira reveal different sides of her hunger for safety, loyalty, and forgiveness. Eliot, meanwhile, brings a gentler energy to the story. His devotion to his traumatized friend Will and his tenderness toward Madeline give the romance genuine warmth. Their intimacy is presented as more than desire. It becomes a private language through which two damaged people recognize each other and begin imagining a future.
Deveny writes with emotional directness and a strong visual instinct. Combat scenes arrive in flashes of blood, smoke, confusion, and irreversible choices, while quieter moments linger over hands, scars, clothing, rooms, and treasured objects. The shifting viewpoints bring readers close to the characters’ thoughts, and the story moves confidently from Afghanistan to Sacramento, Libya, Beirut, and military courtrooms. At times, the intensity is almost unbroken, but that sustained pressure suits characters who can’t simply step away from their memories. The novel is deeply interested in moral injury, especially the painful distance between what a person intended and what their actions caused.
What stays with you is the book’s belief that remorse can become a source of purpose. Madeline and Eliot don’t erase their wounds. They learn to carry them toward service, compassion, and a life devoted to people suffering as they have suffered. By the closing pages, justice matters, but mercy matters more, and love becomes an active choice. By Her Own Hand is a fierce and intimate story of two wounded soldiers who discover that love can’t undo the past, but it can teach the heart what to do with it.
Madeline is the novel’s driving force. She’s fierce, vulnerable, sexually candid, and burdened by guilt that reaches back to her childhood and her brother John’s suffering. Her relationships with Eliot and Mira reveal different sides of her hunger for safety, loyalty, and forgiveness. Eliot, meanwhile, brings a gentler energy to the story. His devotion to his traumatized friend Will and his tenderness toward Madeline give the romance genuine warmth. Their intimacy is presented as more than desire. It becomes a private language through which two damaged people recognize each other and begin imagining a future.
Deveny writes with emotional directness and a strong visual instinct. Combat scenes arrive in flashes of blood, smoke, confusion, and irreversible choices, while quieter moments linger over hands, scars, clothing, rooms, and treasured objects. The shifting viewpoints bring readers close to the characters’ thoughts, and the story moves confidently from Afghanistan to Sacramento, Libya, Beirut, and military courtrooms. At times, the intensity is almost unbroken, but that sustained pressure suits characters who can’t simply step away from their memories. The novel is deeply interested in moral injury, especially the painful distance between what a person intended and what their actions caused.
What stays with you is the book’s belief that remorse can become a source of purpose. Madeline and Eliot don’t erase their wounds. They learn to carry them toward service, compassion, and a life devoted to people suffering as they have suffered. By the closing pages, justice matters, but mercy matters more, and love becomes an active choice. By Her Own Hand is a fierce and intimate story of two wounded soldiers who discover that love can’t undo the past, but it can teach the heart what to do with it.
June 16, 2026
‘One cruelty creates another. It has to stop somewhere’ – A superb new novel!
California author Jack Deveny blends his gifts as a psychotherapist, empath, poet, playwright, and novelist with the very welcome arrival of his second novel BY HER OWN HAND. His initial novel, BLIND TRIANGLE, struck a chord of resonance with this reader, and it is most satisfying to share that his power as an author of significance continues to grow: his ability to sculpt strong female leads to pace his propelling stories of military fiction places him on the stage of prominent authors.
Establishing an atmosphere to captivate attention is a skill Deveny owns, as the opening lines of this immersive novel reveal: ‘Eliot Lange knew it was only a matter of time until his best friend, Will Madsen, did something deadly. It had to happen, but when would it be? ...Eliot had been forced to go and fight in Afghanistan in 2012, by his military father as a punishment. But Will had not needed to go. So, why had he insisted on doing so? What possible difference could two men from Sacramento, in their early twenties, make in a land where war might never end? And why would Will, by far the gentler of the two, take up arms?...’
Deveny’s central character, Madeline Crowne, reflects his own history of early years dealing with an abusive, drug addled, violent environment: Crowne has escaped a violent home, and as the distilled story reveals, she ‘discovers love for the first time, but war and betrayal threated to destroy it. Seeking a world away from abuse, she joins the army. Her first deployment is Afghanistan. Initially a hero, she is later accused of a war crime she did not commit. On the run, near death, she is saved by a woman named Mira, a survivor of the civil wars of Lebanon. Shared sorrows seem to form a perfect friendship, but in time desire and deceit cast shadows. Mira is an illegal arms dealer, drawing Madeline into an underworld as a means of seduction. In another part of the Afghan war, Eliot Lange is accused of desertion as he tried to save a comrade. Panicked, he flees to America. Madeline sees through Mira's duplicity, rejects her advances and finds a way home. Madeline and Eliot's paths intersect in their native Sacramento, where they fall in love, but the FBI is pursuing them. And Eliot is holding back a fearful secret, for he has a distant connection to Mira. Before he can confess, the FBI is closing in. Mira finds them first. Spurned, jealous, she has a plan for a perfect revenge.’
Great characters and an immersive plot, this book further elevates the position of this author on the ladder of successful novelists. Highly recommended
California author Jack Deveny blends his gifts as a psychotherapist, empath, poet, playwright, and novelist with the very welcome arrival of his second novel BY HER OWN HAND. His initial novel, BLIND TRIANGLE, struck a chord of resonance with this reader, and it is most satisfying to share that his power as an author of significance continues to grow: his ability to sculpt strong female leads to pace his propelling stories of military fiction places him on the stage of prominent authors.
Establishing an atmosphere to captivate attention is a skill Deveny owns, as the opening lines of this immersive novel reveal: ‘Eliot Lange knew it was only a matter of time until his best friend, Will Madsen, did something deadly. It had to happen, but when would it be? ...Eliot had been forced to go and fight in Afghanistan in 2012, by his military father as a punishment. But Will had not needed to go. So, why had he insisted on doing so? What possible difference could two men from Sacramento, in their early twenties, make in a land where war might never end? And why would Will, by far the gentler of the two, take up arms?...’
Deveny’s central character, Madeline Crowne, reflects his own history of early years dealing with an abusive, drug addled, violent environment: Crowne has escaped a violent home, and as the distilled story reveals, she ‘discovers love for the first time, but war and betrayal threated to destroy it. Seeking a world away from abuse, she joins the army. Her first deployment is Afghanistan. Initially a hero, she is later accused of a war crime she did not commit. On the run, near death, she is saved by a woman named Mira, a survivor of the civil wars of Lebanon. Shared sorrows seem to form a perfect friendship, but in time desire and deceit cast shadows. Mira is an illegal arms dealer, drawing Madeline into an underworld as a means of seduction. In another part of the Afghan war, Eliot Lange is accused of desertion as he tried to save a comrade. Panicked, he flees to America. Madeline sees through Mira's duplicity, rejects her advances and finds a way home. Madeline and Eliot's paths intersect in their native Sacramento, where they fall in love, but the FBI is pursuing them. And Eliot is holding back a fearful secret, for he has a distant connection to Mira. Before he can confess, the FBI is closing in. Mira finds them first. Spurned, jealous, she has a plan for a perfect revenge.’
Great characters and an immersive plot, this book further elevates the position of this author on the ladder of successful novelists. Highly recommended
April 29, 2026
By Her Own Hand
by Jack Deveny
Thank you to the author for the gifted copy.
By Her Own Hand is an intense, emotionally heavy story about trauma, survival, war, and the complicated paths people take when they are trying to outrun their pasts. Jack Deveny gives Madeline Crowne a difficult journey, from an abusive home to Afghanistan, then into a dangerous web of accusation, betrayal, and desire.
The plot is ambitious, moving between military service, wrongful accusation, illegal arms dealing, romance, and pursuit by the FBI. There is a lot happening, but the story keeps a strong sense of momentum and danger throughout. Madeline’s resilience is the heart of the book, and her struggle to reclaim control over her life gives the novel its emotional weight.
The relationships are complicated and often tense. Mira brings an unsettling mix of rescue, manipulation, and obsession, while Eliot’s storyline adds another layer of secrecy and consequence. Their intersecting paths create a sense that the past is never really finished with them.
This is not a light read. It deals with abuse, violence, betrayal, and the aftermath of war, so readers should go in prepared for darker material.
A dramatic and immersive novel with high stakes, complicated characters, and a strong survival thread running through it.
4 stars.
by Jack Deveny
Thank you to the author for the gifted copy.
By Her Own Hand is an intense, emotionally heavy story about trauma, survival, war, and the complicated paths people take when they are trying to outrun their pasts. Jack Deveny gives Madeline Crowne a difficult journey, from an abusive home to Afghanistan, then into a dangerous web of accusation, betrayal, and desire.
The plot is ambitious, moving between military service, wrongful accusation, illegal arms dealing, romance, and pursuit by the FBI. There is a lot happening, but the story keeps a strong sense of momentum and danger throughout. Madeline’s resilience is the heart of the book, and her struggle to reclaim control over her life gives the novel its emotional weight.
The relationships are complicated and often tense. Mira brings an unsettling mix of rescue, manipulation, and obsession, while Eliot’s storyline adds another layer of secrecy and consequence. Their intersecting paths create a sense that the past is never really finished with them.
This is not a light read. It deals with abuse, violence, betrayal, and the aftermath of war, so readers should go in prepared for darker material.
A dramatic and immersive novel with high stakes, complicated characters, and a strong survival thread running through it.
4 stars.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews