*Run for the Hills* by Kevin Wilson is a quirky, fun read that’s perfect if you’re looking for something offbeat. It follows a family that’s trying to navigate some seriously strange situations—like running from the chaos of their past and facing some wild, unexpected twists. Wilson’s writing is sharp and funny, with a great mix of humor and heart. The characters feel real, even in the weirdest of circumstances, and it’s a fun ride from start to finish. If you're in the mood for a book that's a little bit different, with a lot of charm and wit, *Run for the Hills* is a great pick!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc copy of this book

*my review copied from my personal goodreads

Everything that Kevin Wilson writes is amazing. This is such a cool story about family and searching for connections. I love him and this book.

By the same author of NOTHING TO SEE HERE and NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO PANIC, Wilson has a new one with of course a quirky premise: an older man shows up claiming to be a half brother and says he's on his way out west to round up other half siblings and ultimately pay a visit to their shared father who split on all of them separately.

The dynamic of the characters is what will keep you invested in this story. Each of their lives and memories of who their father was is so different, offering up a mosaic of a father who changed wildly from one life to the next.

Sitting with this book after having finished, I feel like it was ok of a read. I wouldn't say it was all that fun of an expedition because all of these kids are underneath it all pretty hurt by a father who, without explanation left each of them with no explanation and no follow up. Without giving too much away, this man was pretty horrid. He reads more like a comic character from a villainous story but he's undeserving of the kids that share his DNA, whom he imparted dreams to but had little to less than desirable claims for helping to raise.

The ending felt a little lackluster to me as well.

In my opinion, this doesn't really reach the level of NOTHING TO SEE HERE, which was so quirky and fun and a real standout.

3.75

Kevin Wilson is excellent at writing really funny, really heartfelt books. This one is just as excellent as his previous ones and had me reflecting on life one moment and laughing out loud the next.

“Run for the Hills” still carries Kevin Wilson’s trademark charm and humor, but it wasn’t my favorite of his works. My lower rating comes down to the ending, which left me wanting more. I found it hard to accept Charles Hill abandoning four children simply because he wanted to start over—four times. That choice felt unresolved and unsatisfying. Still, Wilson’s wit and unique voice shine through, making this a worthwhile read even if it didn’t fully hit the mark for me.

I remember how excited I was after reading Kevin Wilson's debut story collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth. And then I loved his first novel, The Family Fang. I was struck by his ability to delicately balance a tender humor about the human condition with some real discomforting--but maybe, wryly funny---pathos. Wilson's latest novel strikes these same notes as it describes four newly-found half-siblings who take a road trip to confront their shared father. I really liked this one too but can imagine that some readers (and this goes for the Family Fang too) might find the end a little more of an anticlimax.

Another quirky unique novel from this author.! T for some reason this book kept me flying through the pages hoping that these characters I was getting yo know would find what they were looking for.

The book felt like an uneventful road trip/quest yet so much growth and inner turmoil is happening at the same. It’s like nothing happens but everything happens.

I’d recommend this book to those who love a good untraditional family, self discovery type of story. I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to Ecco and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kevin Wilson never ceases to me amaze me. His books are impossible to categorize and impossible to put down. Quirky characters, weird situations, interesting settings. I've enjoyed everything he's ever written, and Run for the Hills is no exception.

Thanks Ecco and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available May 2025.

As a long time Kevin Wilson fan, Run for the Hills was a beautiful read. Funny and profound, the book follows the four Hills siblings as they try to trace their errant father. What really sold this book was the balance between tense emotions of children who have had to grow up without a father and the wry observational humor Wilson has. It just tickles my brain in the right way. This book also had some of the best descriptions of women's basketball I've ever read - Run for the Hills has it all!

Kevin Wilson is establishing himself as one of the great American comic novelists of our times! He is able to blend humor and heart in a way that does NOT feel like a Hallmark film - a difficult feat. There were moments while reading that I had to get up to take a lap around the room because I felt so overwhelmed with emotion. Mad - the central narrator - shares a similar thread with Wilson's other female protagonists (strong, emotionally reticent, lonely) but is still distinct. Really beautifully done!

I’m a fan of Kevin Wilson and this book didn’t disappoint. The characters are quirky and still real. The story is simple - the children of a man who has serially abandoned them while living different lives go on a road trip to find each other and him. The journey is the point and they become a family along the way. It takes place in 2007, Maybe so that the ability to search on the internet for each other and to do Ancestry generic searches didn’t complicate the story. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

A “ road trip” book-but what a trip it is. Four people of various ages and occupation unknown to each other but each with the same father who unaccountably one day just up and leaves them and their respective mothers. The eldest hires a private detective who tracks down each of the others and RUBE (the eldest) convinces them to go on a road trip to find their dad. It’s unusual, at times a little sad, at times funny but ultimately they find “ dad” and in the process four strangers -each a little quirky and lonely find family and sibling love.
A good read-most enjoyable.

Crying, laughing, laughing while crying, radiating heart emojis

This will be my top book rec of 2025. Everyone needs to read, I am just obsessed. I fell in love with Kevin Wilson's Now is Not The Time To Panic and when I saw his new one on Netgalley, I jumped at the opportunity.
Run For The Hills is is quirky and funny and heartfelt all at the same time. It is a love letter to siblings in a non-traditional envelope. Kevin takes the disappearing dad storyline and turns it into something humorous and charming that manages meaningful depth. What is family? For the Hills, it was those that were left behind bonded by the same heartache, united in a quest, and finding that maybe what they needed is more than the answers they sought.

Counting down the days until this release so I can give it to everyone I know and finally have someone to gush over it with :)
Thank you Netgalley and Ecco for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Kevin Wilson has done it AGAIN (I mean, are we surprised?) Wilson is truly one of my favorite authors and I always know I'll be entertained, warmed, and charmed by his books. I went into this one blind (which I love doing with favorite authors) and was delighted by the story - a band of misfits, siblings who have found each other without knowing they existed days earlier, set off on a road trip to find their long lost father. It's a story about found family, bad parents, the concept of home, and road tripping.

I would love to know where Wilson found the inspiration for this story because it is so unexpected and delightful despite the sad undertones. This is a must read if you are a NCAA women's basketball fan, love the concept of organic chicken farming, or mining emotional depths of family trauma (fun!) It's simply classic Wilson - heartwarming, fun, warm, and unexpected. He is so good at mining for humor in the most surprising places. I hope we just keep getting more and more from him in the future.

Run for the Hills is an intriguing story about four siblings on a road trip to confront the deadbeat father who successively abandoned each of them over the course of some 30+ years. My favorite parts were the descriptions of the father's time with each of his children when he was raising them and doing the hobbies/professions that left lasting impressions on them, even into their adulthoods. It was very mysterious to wonder why a man would make the decisions that he did, and that definitely kept me engaged throughout the book. I think the ending might be unsatisfying to some readers. I definitely wanted a little something different from it. But this is a short, fast-paced book that I think most Kevin Wilson fans will appreciate. I am really looking forward to hearing what readers have to say about it once it is published!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Madeline Hill and her mother have run the farm on their own for decades — ever since Mad’s beloved father left suddenly one day and was never heard from again. Then suddenly, a complete stranger shows up on her doorstep to say that they were half-siblings and that his beloved (shared) father abandoned his family in the same way before creating a new family with Mad’s mother. And! There are two more half siblings spawned in similar situations. Thus begins a road trip to gather the others and confront this missing patriarch once and for all.

An interesting premise with some of the madcappery Wilson is know for, but it kind of fell flat for me. Some decent messages about family and relationships, but I didn’t really “feel” any of it and thought it went on too long for the amount of content and / or insight contained within. I also did not particularly like the ending which didn’t provide the kind of closure I wanted. Maybe that was the point. Certainly easy to read and other experiences may vary from my own.

This book is all about found family, four siblings unknown to each other take a road trip across
the country to find their absent father. Each sibling is different but all marked by the father who
who left them. Strangers become family and wounds do heal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for an ARC of Run for the Hills.

Ugh, I am so torn on this book! I requested this solely because of how much I enjoyed Nothing to See Here and I loved that this had the same witty writing style and clever humor. Ultimately though, the plot was just such a downer that it kept me from truly enjoying it and there just wasn't enough closure or redemption for me at the end of the story. I will definitely give Kevin Wilson another try in the future but I hope to see something more lighthearted from him next time.

3 stars

"Pepper, we are your half brother and sister from the father you haven't seen in ten years and there are more of us and we're going to confront him and would love for you to join us in the PT Cruiser."

If I had to sum up a Kevin Wilson novel in three words, they would be heartfelt, tender, kooky. Wilson is one of my favorite Southern authors. I was unbelievably excited to preview Run for the Hills.

We open to Mad (Madeline) on a busy day running her organic farm with her mother. And, towards the end of Saturday morning, her half brother, Reuben, appears. Mad's dad had left her and her mom over twenty years ago. She had no clue this man existed.

Charles, Chuck, Chip--her dad had gone by different names. But, he followed the same pattern; create a new identity, fall in love, have one child, disappear--never to be seen or heard from again. As Reuben and Mad barrel west adding half siblings along the way in their PT Cruiser, the family begins to connect and the siblings find a family and camaraderie they didn't know they were missing.

Run for the Hills was a perfect weekend read. I laughed and cried. It's about deep stuff but is so utterly silly that you can't help be endeared to this crazy family.

As always, Kevin Wilson’s characters are top notch. It takes finesse to create quirky people who don't feel like a parody or a caricature, but he pulls it off every time. I would follow his characters anywhere. In this case, on a road trip. I didn’t want the road trip to end.