SO FAR GONE by Jess Walter

Rhys Kinnick has been living off the grid for seven years and doesn’t recognize his grandchildren when they come knocking on his door.  Their mom, Bethany, has taken off and left a note for a neighbor to deliver the kids to Rhys, despite his self-imposed exile from the family.  However, Bethany’s husband, Shane, has sent goons from his right-wing militia to move the kids to Rampart, a vigilante training facility masquerading as a church, more or less.  Rhys decides to be proactive for a change, and his ex-girlfriend suggests he team up with another of her ex-boyfriends, Chuck, who happens to be an ex-cop.  Chuck is a trip, as is Rhys’s inquisitive nine-year-old grandson, Asher, who loves to do things that he is not good at, such as jump over creeks and compete in chess tournaments.  This novel, a combination of family drama and adventure, is a pleasure to read from start to finish, with the exception of a chunk in the middle that recounts Bethany’s counseling session with her therapist, who suggests that Bethany’s choices in men stem from her fraught relationship with her father.  Daddy issues?  Really?  Fortunately, this section is just a minor blip as the plot moves on to Bethany’s whereabouts and altercations with the Rampart crazies.  The family drama angle has Rhys wondering why he isolated himself in the first place and what he needs to do to get back into Bethany’s good graces.  Witty dialog provides an element of humor to a story of regret and reunion, peppered with a fair amount of gunplay.