While I cannot claim this is my favorite of Wilson's novels, it still ticks all of the boxes read him for: funny, warm, thoughtful, and a clever, original plot. I will always recommend Wilson to my patrons and I will always add his next title to my TBR pile.

Madeline grew up with her hippy mom on a farm for the majority of her life. Her dad left when she was only a kid. Reuben Hill shows up unexpectedly and announces that he is actually Madeline’s half sibling. He hired a private investigator to track down his father. It turns out his father has remarried more than once and abandoned multiple kids a long he way. Reuben wants to take a road trip to pick up his siblings and confront their father.


I thought this book had a lot of potential. The plot seemed interesting and I wasn’t sure where it would go. Unfortunately I found the book to be repetitive and it just wasn’t for me.

This was such a fun, interesting, hopeful novel about half-siblings coming together to confront their disappearing father. Such a vibrant cast of characters!

This is a light hearted romp through family trauma as siblings - heretofore unknown to each other - climb in a car together to confront their long-lost father who abandoned each of them in succession. Wilson treats this with a levity that the subject doesn't deserve. But then, who would read it?

This was a delightful and quirky read from the author of previous delightful quirky reads! I loved the characters and all of their dramas. Sweet and funny!

Run for the Hills is a book about four half siblings who learn about each other’s existence and meet during a cross-country road trip. This is my third Kevin Wilson book and the heart and humor of his writing shine through. The siblings, Rube, Mad, Pep, and Tom, are each about a decade apart, spanning from 40s to 10 years old. Their father settled down and had a child with a new woman every decade. He left each child after spending 5-10 years with each. Each child was left wondering what happened to their father who had seemed so devoted to them.
Having discovered his father’s other children, the eldest son, Rube, embarks on a cross-country journey to meet his siblings and confront their father. Each sibling is well-formed, unique, and somehow thriving in their chosen professions. They learn how different their father was in each family, even having a different career and names. I really enjoyed getting to know each character. I wish it would have gone a little deeper. I felt like we were only just getting to know the siblings. I really enjoyed the budding relationships between each siblings and pondering what makes a family or a father. I really enjoyed the writing style, characters, and story.

Thank you Ecco Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

🚗 Run For the Hills - Kevin Wilson

4.25 ⭐️ - Well! I love a Kevin Wilson book about siblings! If you haven’t read “Nothing To See Here” yet, you need to. And this one too! A found, real family? That’s new for me but I really enjoyed it.

Ever since her father left twenty years ago, it’s always been Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Tennessee. Until one day when Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT cruiser to inform Madeline that he believes they are half siblings. Reuben, whose father left thirty years ago, has hired a detective to find his father and a string of half siblings and he wants Mad to join him on an adventure to find them all. As Mad and Rube, and eventually the others, join together and share stories while trying to find their father and wonder, what was he looking for in each reincarnation of his life?

This book was full of charm, adventure, fun, and hope. It has really happy and uplifting parts and some sad and frustrating parts. The characters are all easily lovable and you want to root for the siblings the whole time. I enjoyed watching their journey, across the country, and their growth in their own way of life. The siblings coming together to find their dad gave the story a heartfelt plot. It was an easy quick read with some depth that would be a lovely addition to your beach/pool bag! The audio is highly recommended; it’s very fun!

Thank you to Netgalley and Ecco for the early ARC! This one’s out now!

4.5 stars. This book was so cute! I loved tue found family aspect. Its one of those books that play like a movie in your head while reading it. Loved!!

*Run for the Hills* by Kevin Wilson was such a quirky, fun ride! It’s clever, heartfelt, and just a little bit wild in the best way. I loved the humor and the unexpected moments, and the characters totally stole my heart. A quick, happy read that left me smiling — so glad I picked it up!

I simply love Kevin Wilson, what can I say? This story is about found family who is your actual family, and the family road trip they never knew they were missing. Mad, Rube, Pep, and Tom are 4 children who share 1 dad and never knew about one another. Charles Hill started over and over and over, each time he restarted he left behind a child, and now those children are going to find him! The concept is so bizarre, the characters so funny, the family bonds so heartwarming, I loved reading this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review!

What a unique storyline. Four half siblings of various ages and persuasions are united through the efforts of their oldest (half) brother. Traveling towards the West Coast, the siblings gradually meet and join in a quest to locate their father. Each of them has their own recollections of a father who has morphed into a different person each time he begins a new family. Now, the siblings want to see him and they want to know why he left and never looked back.

This description could sound sad and depressing but instead, Kevin Wilson has crafted a story that’s hopeful, encouraging, and entertaining. As the siblings get to know each other, they realize they have a family and, in some cases, the support they have lacked since their father left. The humor is subtle and the interactions between the siblings is entertaining and heartwarming.

The author has a great imagination and the various situations he places his characters in are just plain good. This is a book that was hard to put down for very long. Run for the Hills is an entertaining read that is also quite thoughtful. NetGalley provided an advance reader copy.

Kevin Wilson has made a name for himself writing quirky yet heartwarming books. Having enjoyed two of his previous books—my favorite of which was Now Is Not the Time to Panic—I was fairly excited when NetGalley gave me an advanced copy of Run for the Hills.

This was just ok.

The premise was good: Four half-siblings who literally just met each other go on a road trip in a PT Cruiser to confront the father that abandoned each of them.

And yes, this was definitely quirky. And yes, I laughed a few times.

What didn’t work for me: The incredibly long chapters coupled with the fact that we were stuck in Mad’s point of view. I got bored. And after making it through those super long chapters and Mad’s constant introspection, I wanted the reward of more closure at the end. What happens to the dad? Do the siblings ever see each other again? Does Pep go on to play basketball for the WNBA? I felt like the author kind of abandoned me—but maybe that’s the point? Maybe I was supposed to feel a small degree of what each of the siblings felt when their dad left them to start a new family?

Also, was I alone in thinking that Wilson was hinting that we were going to get a much darker ending?

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

#HarperAudio
#Ecco
#RunfortheHills
#KevinWilson
#MarinIreland
#DomesticFiction
#yarisbooknook
#Netgalley

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.