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.

Kevin Wilson has a gift for taking ordinary people, putting them in extraordinary situations, and delivering a tale that delights and often confounds or amazes readers. True, sometimes those "ordinary people" have their own unexpected traits ("Nothing to See Here"), but always we come to love these characters. "Run for the Hills" was hard to put down! The plot was surprising, times 4, as four lives are woven into one unbelievable story. I refuse to leave spoilers here because the magic comes from each new discovery the reader makes on this metaphorical and literal journey. I would have enjoyed an epilogue (or perhaps a followup short story from Kevin Wilson), although the novel wraps up quite beautifully. There are laugh-out-loud moments and there are tears. I think readers will love "Run for the Hills" as much as I did.

This wasn’t my favorite Kevin Wilson book. I found it to be a little slow and honestly not weird enough for Kevin Wilson. I like to finish his books and go wow what in the world did I just read??? Now is not the time to panic may be my most favorite. This one was just ok

The most surprising, heartwarming road trip of a novel with unique character snapshot. This has the energy of a quest reminiscent of Percy Jackson or Pixar’s “Onward.”

Madeline “Mad” Hill is in her early 30’s and enjoys a quiet life on her Tennessee farm with her mother, since her dad abandoned them when Mad was just 10. One day a PT Cruiser pulls up and she meets Rube, a Boston man in his 40’s who introduces himself as her half brother. It seems her father had already abandoned one wife and child when Mad was born… and it seems he went on to do that twice more. Rube and Mad set off for Oklahoma to meet their half-sister Pep, a college basketball star, and then plan on going to Salt Lake City to meet their 10 year old half brother Tom.

Rube has gathered information about his father and half-siblings through a private investigator, and what a story it is. They learn from each other than the “dad” they grew up with was so much different than the “dad” the others knew. With whip smart dialogue, brilliant characterization, and more than one symbolic theme, you will be forced to contemplate how the parent you know is different than the person they are throughout their life. Run For The Hills is an instant classic in the “found family” trope.

One of my top ten books for 2025.

Thanks to @netgalley and @eccobooks for the ARC. Book to be published 5/13/25.

#booksbooksbooks #booktok #bookstagram #arcreader #bookreview #bookrecommendations #runforthehills

A family road trip story brimming with comedy, tenderness, and the relatable dysfunction we've come to expect from Kevin Wilson. This author can do no wrong in my eyes.

{Thank you to Ecco and Netgalley for the eARC}

Started out well - I enjoy Kevin Wilson's writing style. A short book, and sadly I did not relate to all the characters. Found some of the decision making just too hard to believe. My favorite character was Mad - the farmer from Tennessee. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy. I think I might have enjoyed this more on audio if the reader that did "Nothing to See Here" was the narrator.

This book was just okay for me. I've enjoyed his previous titles more.--especially Nothing to See Here.

I absolutely loved this family saga. Four siblings go on a journey to find the father that spent around 10 years with each of them before splitting for good. Fans of Kevin Wilson will find his signature writing style and laugh out loud humor.

Full of humor and heart, this book is a delight from the very beginning. I loved all of the siblings and the time I spent with them and would have gladly read more. People are going to love this book! And the cover is perfect. Thank you NetGalley and Ecco for the ARC.

I’m a big fan of Kevin Wilson, so I was so excited to be approved for this ARC! Run for the Hills is the story of Mad, whose father left her and her mother when she was ten, as she embarks on a cross-country trip with the half-brother she never knew she had, to track down their other half-siblings and maybe their dad. It’s funny and poignant; no surprise there, as Kevin Wilson always does this so well! And what a charming cast of characters, each with their own quirks and idiosyncrasies and strengths and flaws. I genuinely enjoyed my time with each of them, and was sad when the book was over. This book is laugh-out-loud funny at times, and thought-provoking at others (and sometimes both at the same time). I found the ending satisfying, and when I finished the book, I felt the warm feeling of having spent time with new friends.