Run for the Hills: A Novel

Audiobook performed by Marin Ireland

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY: Time, People, LitHub, and BookRiot

An unexpected road trip across America brings a family together, in this heartfelt new novel from the bestselling author of Nothing to See Here.

Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it's been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it's a bit lonely, she sometimes admits, and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it's mostly okay. Mostly.

Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she's his half sister. Reuben-left behind by their dad thirty years ago-has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him on a road trip to find them all.

As Mad and Rube-and eventually the others-share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with every new incarnation. Who are they to one another? What kind of man will they find? And how will these new relationships change Mad's previously solitary life on the farm?

Infused with deadpan wit and enormous heart, Run for the Hills is a sibling story like no other-a novel about a family forged under the most unlikely circumstances and united by hope in an unknown future.

1146276745
Run for the Hills: A Novel

Audiobook performed by Marin Ireland

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY: Time, People, LitHub, and BookRiot

An unexpected road trip across America brings a family together, in this heartfelt new novel from the bestselling author of Nothing to See Here.

Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it's been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it's a bit lonely, she sometimes admits, and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it's mostly okay. Mostly.

Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she's his half sister. Reuben-left behind by their dad thirty years ago-has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him on a road trip to find them all.

As Mad and Rube-and eventually the others-share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with every new incarnation. Who are they to one another? What kind of man will they find? And how will these new relationships change Mad's previously solitary life on the farm?

Infused with deadpan wit and enormous heart, Run for the Hills is a sibling story like no other-a novel about a family forged under the most unlikely circumstances and united by hope in an unknown future.

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Run for the Hills: A Novel

Run for the Hills: A Novel

by Kevin Wilson

Narrated by Marin Ireland

Unabridged — 7 hours, 22 minutes

Run for the Hills: A Novel

Run for the Hills: A Novel

by Kevin Wilson

Narrated by Marin Ireland

Unabridged — 7 hours, 22 minutes

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Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Families are messy — especially when your half siblings are scattered across the U.S. Kevin Wilson's witty and wry voice is back in this hilarious and hopeful novel that takes us along on a cross-country adventure.

Audiobook performed by Marin Ireland

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY: Time, People, LitHub, and BookRiot

An unexpected road trip across America brings a family together, in this heartfelt new novel from the bestselling author of Nothing to See Here.

Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it's been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it's a bit lonely, she sometimes admits, and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it's mostly okay. Mostly.

Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she's his half sister. Reuben-left behind by their dad thirty years ago-has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him on a road trip to find them all.

As Mad and Rube-and eventually the others-share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with every new incarnation. Who are they to one another? What kind of man will they find? And how will these new relationships change Mad's previously solitary life on the farm?

Infused with deadpan wit and enormous heart, Run for the Hills is a sibling story like no other-a novel about a family forged under the most unlikely circumstances and united by hope in an unknown future.


Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

“Run for the Hills is a touching and generous romp of a novel, a sort of lighthearted family heist in which the anticipated grift is simply a meeting (or confrontation?) with the characters’ father. The results of their quest are, frankly, beside the point. In bringing the siblings together — with or without the man who helped create them — Wilson makes a bold and convincing case that every real family is one you have to find and, at some point, choose, even if it’s the one you’re born into.” — Bobby Finger, New York Times Book Review (“Editors’ Choice”)

“Like Wilson’s other fiction including Nothing to See Here and Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Run for the Hills gently tugs at the heart.” — Annabel Gutterman, TIME

“Here's how Maureen Corrigan, longtime book critic for Fresh Air, once neatly summed up Wilson's ‘sweet-tart’ fiction: ‘He'll start off with these goofy, almost sitcom-type contrived premises and from there create stories that knock you out with the force of their emotional truth.’ That description remains apt here. His newest novel features a literally found family of half-siblings, on a road trip to track down the deadbeat dad who fathered them all — and abandoned them each in turn.” — NPR.org

“Unbelievably adorable sibling road trip . . . Real feeling and believable characters? Not problem. Kevin Wilson continues to do whimsy with as much heart as any writer ever has.”  — Boston Globe

“Rich with heart, humor and insight into what makes a family.” — People

“Wilson’s a master of creating offbeat relationships, and this story of family, mystery, and hope against all odds will surely rank among his best.” — Town & Country

“[Wilson’s] sweetest novel . . . Funny in a way that hurts just a little . . . Run for the Hills is partly about what children inherit from their parents. But as the Hills get to know each other, the focus shifts from nature to nurture. Each of the offspring has learned something important from their father, from Pep’s basketball skills to Mad’s gift for growing things to Rube’s skill as a mystery writer. But all have surpassed their jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none dad.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Wilson is a master of writing about family. . . Run for the Hills spins an engaging yarn about loss and how it can sometimes lead to fortune. And it does so with a lot of humor.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“In Kevin Wilson’s poignant, comic stories, the theatricality of family life often takes center stage. . . . This is Wilson’s special terrain, that sweet hurt where love and disappointment intersect. . . a slim, winsome story.” — Washington Post Book Review

“Fans will pounce on the latest from this beloved author of offbeat family fiction.” — Booklist 

“Wilson’s living narrative is a combination road novel, domestic drama and snapshot of rural America. Amid the seemingly carefree attitudes are profound questions. What would lead a man to abandon not just one family, but several? And what would it feel like to discover that the only family you’ve ever known is not the only family you have? Run for the Hills raises these questions and more with endearing aplomb. Forgiveness is difficult, sometimes, but these newly introduced siblings give it their best in this colorful novel.” — BookPage

“A rollicking, hilarious family drama. . . . It’s zany and madcap, and the characters are so indelibly drawn, so charming and full of heart, that it’s an absolute pleasure to go along for the ride.” — Cristina Henríquez, WBEZ Chicago

Run for the Hills is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, with just the right balance of humour and emotional depth. It reminded me that healing doesn’t always come from the person who hurt you, but sometimes, it also comes from people who were hurt just like you, and those who share the pain with you.” — Booktrib

“Stellar writing, clever humor and offbeat family dynamics. . . . Wilson remains the King of Quirk.” — KMUW

 “A poignant meditation on what it means to be part of a family and the ways its members may not only disappoint, but surprise, support, and change one another.” — Chapter 16

What’s more American than a Hollywood nepo baby landing a podcast deal? A chaotic, cross-country road trip. And in Run for the Hills, this one’s anything but typical. It kicks off when Reuben Hill...shows up unannounced at a Tennessee farm to tell Madeline “Mad” Hill that he thinks she’s his long-lost sister. Reuben’s already hired a PI to track down their dad — who disappeared 30 years ago — plus two other half-siblings. So Mad and Rube hit the road and along the way, their impromptu family reunion gets bigger, emotional baggage gets unpacked, and yes, hijinks absolutely ensue. — The Skimm

Kirkus Reviews

2025-04-19
Four previously unknown half siblings set out on a road trip in search of their long-absent father.

Madeline Hill finds her life exhausting, but mostly plentiful, having built her family’s little organic farm in Tennessee into a destination for foodies and families alike. But the chip on her shoulder comes rushing back when her half brother Reuben shows up in a PT Cruiser with a trunkful of family secrets about her deadbeat dad, Chuck Hill. Not the least of these is the fact that their father created and abandoned families four times in total, leaving behind kids who each followed in their father’s largely invented footsteps. Despite her reservations, Mad joins her brother—a sensitive, middle-aged crime writer who followed the path set by his dad, known as Charles Hill—on his ill-advised quest. In Oklahoma, they pick up their father’s other spitfire daughter, Pep, a championship basketball player raised by coach Chip Hill to never give up. Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, they pick up Theron, called Tom, the 11-year-old son of a famous TV broadcaster mother, fathered by cameraman Carl Hill. Wilson’s quartet makes for an amiable if fairly milquetoast bunch, but their awkward bonding leans toward cringe rather than comfort. They finally do find their absentee father out West, but it’s more realization than revelation, mostly about the frailty of man and what it means to be a family. Wilson is positively masterful at quirky family dramas and many of the ingredients that have made his stories so popular are present here: an eclectic cast, a dash of absurdity, and complicated but very real family dynamics. Somewhere in his latest, though, some spice got missed and readers end up on a road to nowhere. “We’ve had our big family fight and now we’ve made up,” Pep says on the road. “That’s how it works, I think.”

Both family reunion and ghost story, even though neither quite comes to life.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940190876727
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 05/13/2025
Edition description: Unabridged
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