This is the fifth book I've read from Kevin Wilson (Nothing to See Here was on my 2020 Favorites List!) and as I have come to expect, Run for the Hills delivers a unique
and quirky look at family and relationships.
Revisiting
Coalfield, Tennessee, the setting for Wilson's Now is Not the Time to Panic (I have learned to look for connections, large and small, between
Wilson's novels), Madeline "Mad" Hill is devoted to the farm she runs
with her mother after her father abandoned the family 20 years ago. One
day, a man drives up and introduces himself as her half brother Reuben
"Rube" Hill, and explains that years before Mad's father abandoned her,
their father abandoned Rube and his mother. Not only that, there are
other families, and children, who came after Mad and, in each family, their
father was a completely different man. Rube persuades Mad to join him on a quest across the country to find their siblings and father.
Run
for the Hills was a more meandering novel than most of the books I've
read by Kevin Wilson. There isn't a lot of plot - the siblings drive,
meet one another, repeat. But, where other books build worlds, Wilson
spends time building a family; I found that fascinating! I loved seeing
the Hill siblings discover, learn to accept and support one another
during this journey. Were there times I felt emotionally manipulated?
Sure. But overall, I still enjoyed the adventure.
I found that,
like most of Wilson's novels, I didn't love the ending. But I was more
satisfied by the ending of Run for the Hills than I usually am by his
books, so I count that as a win.
Marin Ireland narrated the
audiobook and I usually enjoy her narration quite a bit, but I didn't
for this book and often found myself switching to the Kindle version
instead. For many of the scenes, she used a really low tone and, when the
characters were being serious, particularly the younger characters, she
spoke so quietly that I truly could not hear or parse the words she was
saying, even when I tried to rewind the audio multiple times. It was
frustrating enough that I would stop the audiobook and just pick it up
when I had time to read the Kindle so I wouldn't miss anything when that
happened. I'm sure that was more of a production issue than a narrator
issue, but I did find it annoying.
Run for the Hills is a fun read for fans of Kevin Wilson or people who enjoy a unique family adventure.
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