It's a fun little book. Not his best, and I think he had no idea how to land it. But I did appreciate the book a lot. It's interesting and probably the point that in a book full of incredible characters all obsessing on a father figure that the book largely flounders once the dad shows up.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 253 / Genre: Fiction
Release Date: May 13, 2025

Madeline Hill has been living a solitary life working on the farm she and her mom own in Tennessee. She hadn’t really thought about her dad since he suddenly left them when she was young. That is, until Reuben Hill shows up and announces that he’s her half-brother and their father had a history of making families and leaving them, reinventing himself each time—a writer with Rube, a farmer with Mad, and who knows what with the rest. Yes, the rest. Rube hired a private investigator to track down their father and found at least two more siblings. Rube proposes Mad accompany him on a road trip to meet the other siblings, learn who their father was with them, and then confront him in California, his last known address.

These only children suddenly have siblings and even though they’re basically strangers, their tie to their father and their shared pain of being abandoned bands them together and changes them forever. This book was so funny and heartwarming in a heartbreaking way. I really loved it.

Thank you, @KevinWilsonAuthor and EccoBooks for my free @NetGalley copy.

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson (book cover is in image) takes on a road trip with Ruben Hill, abandoned by his father, in search of his half siblings and father. Along the way the reader meets his exceptional children while hearing the same heartbreaking story of abandonment from each one. Along the way they learn about their father and each other.

The narration by Marin Ireland is very well done. Characters all felt unique, and the flow allowed me to finish this short novel in book in one sitting, with the feeling of being emersed in a well paced movie adventure.

Thank you, Ecco, Harper Audio Adult, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and listen to the ALC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: May 13 2025

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This is a light-hearted and fun read from Wilson about a serious topic, a father abandoning his family. When a PT Cruiser pulls up to Mad's farmstand, she is not prepared for a tall pale man to tell her he is her older brother by a father who seems like a completely different person to Mad's farmer dad - who left when she was a child. This starts them off on a road trip across the country to meet other siblings and finally confront the man who damaged them all. How could a good father just leave his children and partners? What made him so completely different with all his families? Told with Wilson's signature wit and empathy, read this if you are looking for a road trip adventure with heart and found families.

This was a really good read and I think it had a decent writing style and story! Would recommend to anyone looking for next read

The moment I saw Kevin Wilson's name on this book, I knew I had to read it. I loved "Nothing to See Here" so fiercely, and I was so ready to love "Run for the Hills" just as much. And I did - the story here delighted me from beginning to end. I had so much fun meeting the siblings and following their adventure, and I loved the openness of the ending the same as I loved the openness of the final chapter of "Nothing to See Here". But beyond my adoration for the characters and the cleverness of the plot, these books told very different - but equally valuable - stories. If you want a comforting hug from a sibling (blood or chosen, it's family either way) that's what reading "Run For the Hills" feels like.

I love Kevin Wilson! He can present a dysfunctional family in the best of light! In addition, he is excellent at creating female characters - they are never a stereotype. This book made me think about family, what makes a family, responsibility, and mistakes. Wilson always gives me some new insight on these important topics - and I find myself laughing at his crazy stories at the same time. He is a truly gifted storyteller. I LOVED the Sooners Women's Basketball connection and the references to Top Daug! Obscurity at its best!! Thank you to Ecco Publishing and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

another classic dysfunctional family tale like only Kevin Wilson can tell it. while this wasn't his best, it had plenty of unique characters and plenty of his trademark humor.

This was fine, didn't love it. I was surprised by how much I really loved Nothing To See Here so was excited for this one as well. There's a great cast of quirky characters but it just kind of meandered along and then ended. Marin Ireland's narration was perfection though, as usual.

I love Kevin Wilson’s character development and storytelling. The uniqueness of each kid, the tension in the car, the way the dad’s story didn’t have any kind of over explanation. It was just perfect.

This book was so cute. I loved the premise: A father had several families throughout his life. He was a good, caring father while he was in their lives but left suddenly never to be heard from again (at least as far as his kids’ knew). The story follows his children , all nicknamed by their father, Rube, Mad, Pep and Tom as they journey across the country in search of their father. The second eldest Mad is the main POV in the book and I think I would have liked a little more solid resolution, especially for her, but it was really a sweet book with loveable characters.

Kevin Wilson can do no wrong. I didn't love this one as much as his other books, but I still loved it. A road trip across the US to collect siblings, is the best way to describe it. One father, four children, all from different generations and different mothers. Four completely different people who had completely different experiences with the same dad. Wilson has such a witty bent to all of his writing, and out of nowhere I found myself with tears in my eyes as he takes one of his patented sharp righthand turns into emotion. He's just brilliant.

This was an emotional family drama where 4 half siblings who have never met connect on a road trip across the country to find their father. I really enjoyed this one and it may have been 5 stars except I was expecting and wanted it to be far more quirky and weird based on the previous books I have read by Kevin Wilson so that felt like a little bit of a letdown.

With flashes of Wilson’s signature wit and heart, this uneven novel follows four half-siblings who discover that the father they believed had abandoned them didn’t just disappear—he started a new life, complete with a new family and another child. The story kicks off when Rube, the firstborn of Charles Hill, shows up at Mad’s farm in a PT Cruiser claiming to be her half-brother. Rube and Mad set off to round up Charles's other kids—Pep and Tom—and set off on a cross-country trip to confront the man who left them all behind.

I loved the humor and charm of the road trip. The camaraderie the group builds along the way is genuinely fun. But the emotional core—the complex family dynamics—fell a bit flat for me. While Mad and Rube were the most developed, Pep and Tom were underexplored. And the father's explanation for abandoning each child and reinventing himself didn’t land with the weight I’d hoped for.

I enjoyed the ride, but ultimately, this novel didn’t quite live up to the depth or resonance of Wilson’s two previous books.

Thank you NetGalley and Ecco for the advance reading e-book copy of this book for review!

I love all of Kevin Wilson's books and this one ticked all the boxes for me: unique plot, well-developed characters, and heartfelt.

Mad, Rube, Pep, and Tom have one thing in common: a father who left them with no explanation and no further communication. None of the three are aware that they have any other siblings until Rube does some research and discovers that he has three or more siblings. When Rube comes to find Mad, he enlists her on a road trip to meet their other sister and brother and take them with them to California to confront their father and get some answers: why did he leave each of them? How many families did he leave? How many siblings do they actually have?

By the time they reach California, the siblings have created a close bond they hope will last forever despite living in different places around the country.

Wilson writes in his funny yet endearing style and does what he is good at - creating wacky situations with great characters you fall in love with. By the end of the book I wanted to be siblings with these three too.

Definite 5 stars!

Run for the Hills is a quirky, heartfelt road trip novel full of unexpected charm. I was quickly drawn into the lives of these half-siblings as they embarked on a wild, bittersweet journey to piece together their shared past. The tone is light, with a blend of deadpan humor and emotional undercurrents that make the story both entertaining and touching. While I found myself wishing the father’s character had a bit more depth, perhaps that reflects the reality of some relationships—we don’t always get the answers we seek. A charming and one-of-a-kind story about found family and the bonds that connect them.

This is the story of an epic road trip with newfound siblings to find the Dad who left them all behind to create new beginnings. I really enjoyed it. The quirky characters were all very unique and enjoyable, but Mad was the main character, so I was glad to see it open and end in her perspective.

Not my favorite of his but not terrible? I wish I had something better to say. I thought it was just okay. I did not connect with any of the characters.

The gist, a foursome of half-siblings pile into a PT Cruiser on a roadtrip to find the father that abandoned each of them sequentially. They all thought they were only children until oldest brother Rueben pulls up to oldest sister Madeline's organic farm in Coalfield, Tennessee (the setting for Wilson's last novel, Now Is Not the Time to Panic). Mad's mother convinces Mad to join Rube on his quest and they pick up their hoops-playing, college-aged sister Pep at OU (Boomer Sooners!) and their 10-year-old brother Tom in Salt Lake City before beelining to California, which Rube's PI has identified as the current home of their father, Charles Hill. Run for the Hills, get it? It's fun and clever like all of Wilson's novels, but this one feels a little safer, a little less weird. It's still a great read, especially if you are a Kevin Wilson fan. 

[Thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for an opportunity to read and share my opinion of this book.]

Found family and a cross country road trip...I'm in! This is the second book I've read published in 2025 with this framework, and I did not realize how much I needed it in my life. This book by Kevin Wilson tells the story of the Hill siblings, who do not know they are half-siblings until the eldest of the bunch shows up in a PT Cruiser and takes them on a road trip to find the father that left each of them when they were young.

The book begins with Reuben, the first child of Charles Hill, arriving at the farm of Madeline Hill and declaring himself her older brother. Madeline is shocked to learn her father, who disappeared from her life when she was a child, had a family prior to the one he had with her and her mother. Reuben then informs her that their dad went on to create at least two more families, and they have two other siblings. Together they embark on a cross country road trip to find their siblings and confront their father.

This story runs the gambit of emotions. There is both humor and heartbreak. There is a good bit of anger at the father, but there is also a lot of love that develops between these newfound siblings. Some of the adventures on this journey are a little outlandish, but it works somehow. I felt myself growing attached to these reluctant siblings and their quest to find an answer to the question that has clouded their lives: Why did their father leave them?

If you like the found family trope and a good road trip adventure, you should read this book. It is a quick, fun read that will leave you hopeful that long time family scars can be healed.

Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a review.