#rob phillips

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Book Review – Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips

Title: Stakeouts and Strollers By: Rob Phillips Genre: Mystery, Cozy Mystery Ratings: 3 out 5 Publisher: March 17, 2026 by Minotaur Books Summary: Charlie Shaw is low on sleep. And cash. Otherwise, life is going pretty well for the ex-crime reporter: He’s happily married to his college sweetheart, he’s a first-time dad to the most adorable baby girl in existence, and he’s making ends meet as a rookie PI. But when Charlie meets Friday Finley, a frightened sixteen-year-old runaway on a stakeout-gone-wrong, his world gets a little more complicated.

Friday is looking for her estranged father Shawn, an unreliable alcoholic who left when she was young—and who also happens to be her only shot at avoiding the foster care system since her mother’s death a few weeks earlier. At first, Charlie believes the man is simply hiding out somewhere, avoiding his responsibilities as usual, but the more he investigates, the more unsettling—and dangerous—Shawn’s disappearance becomes. When his own family is threatened, Charlie realizes he’s in over his head, but can he back out now that he’s begun to care for Friday as his own?

A perfect blend of humor and high stakes, Stakeouts and Strollers is a heartwarming story of fatherhood, family, and what it really means to be a “Girl Dad.”

My thoughts: An easy read, I enjoyed this mystery. Snarky dialogue was used by the characters in the story. Grace, for example, was one of my favorite characters. Despite not being the main character, she was my favorite character. From the moment I started reading the book, I felt compelled to finish it and see where it went. It was a good book that kept moving forward.

As for what was not so great, some of the plot seemed stretched to me. A newborn father being away on dangerous stakeouts and missions for hours on end, leaving his wife with a fussy, non-sleeping baby did not seem realistic to me. Especially if it’s unpaid. While I understand he was doing this mission out of the goodness of his heart and to right some childhood wounds, it did not seem realistic to me.

Throughout the story, Charlie (the main character) was also inserted into implausibly dangerous situations and did things I think were dumb and risky. His likeability to me dropped as I could not relate to the decisions he made or the circumstances he found himself in. Both factors lowered my rating.

Overall, I thought it was a pleasant and easy read, provided you let go of your expectations of how the characters would (or should) behave. I enjoyed the ending, particularly how the author tied it back to his daughter, as well as how she is central to the book and to the author’s own world. In a sense, this brought the novel to a close. For those who want something light and fast-paced with a little humor, this is an ideal read.

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Mystery/Thriller Monday

Charlie was a crime reporter, but he got fired. So, he decides to become a PI. And, while on a stakeout trying to catch someone’s spouse cheating on them, he meets Friday. She’s 16, and, doesn’t want to go into foster care. She needs to find her father, but, they’re estranged. So, Charlie and his wife (and their baby, although, while she is wicked cute, she probably doesn’t have an opinion on Friday yet) let her stay with them, while Charlie looks for her Dad. Except, of course, while Charlie thinks it won’t be too bad, it’s not that easy. And, as he gets deeper looking for her father, everything becomes infinitely more dangerous for everyone.

This was a funny book, but, also an interesting mystery too. And then there was Callie (the cute little kiddo). Just it was an all around fun fun read.

You may like this book If you Liked: Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera, One Last Kill by Robert Dugoni, or Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips

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Two Books that I didn't like

Dear Fellow Reader, I am going to do something out of the ordinary for me today. I am going to tell you about two books that I did not really like. I hate to do this because someone put all their effort into writing a book, and I hate to belittle that effort. Something along the lines that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. The Story That Wouldn’t Die by Christina…

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Equal partners in His wrath

John lists seven classes of people seeking to escape God’s wrath. Just as God shows no favoritism (Acts 10:34) and welcomes people from every tribe, language, people and nation into His kingdom (Rev. 5:9), people of all economic, social and political stripes choose to reject Him and thus partake as equal partners in His wrath. John specifically mentions kings, the nobles (statesmen and high civil officers), military commanders, the rich, the powerful (a reference to physical strength), slaves and free persons.

Those who are most feared on earth become the most fearful, and those who are from the lowliest castes receive no special mercy for having rejected the exalted place offered them in Christ’s kingdom. “No authority, nor grandeur, nor riches, nor valour, nor strength, would be able to support men at that time; yea, the very poor slaves, who, one would think, had nothing to fear, because they had nothing to lose, would be all in amazement at that day [Matthew Henry]”

All are sinners; all have rejected God’s Son and His provision for their sin through His sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross; all have taken part in abusing His grace and persecuting His people; and now all of them together know that His righteous wrath is falling equally on them.

~  Rob Phillips

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“IT’S 3-1, SAM VOKES HEADS WALES INTO THE EURO 2016 SEMI FINALS! IT’S ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY HERE IN LILLE”