Five-Star Stranger A Novel

"Would you hire someone to be the best man at your wedding? Your stand-in brother? Your husband? In Kat Tang's exciting and resonant debut, a "Rental Stranger"-a companion hired under various guises-walks the line between personal and professional in surprising new ways. Five-Star Stranger follows a man who is a top-rated performer on the "Rental Stranger" app, where users can hire a pretend fiancé, Referred to only as Stranger, the narrator navigates New York City under the guise of the characters he plays, always maintaining a professional distance from his clients. In an age where online ratings are all-powerful, Five-Star Stranger follows the adventures of a top-rated man on the "Rental Stranger" app-a place where users can hire a a pretend fiancé, a wingman, or an extra mourner for a funeral. Referred to only as Stranger, the narrator navigates New York City under the guise of characters he plays, always maintaining a professional distance from his clients. When a nosy patron threatens to upend his long-term role as father to a young girl, Stranger begins to reckon with his attachment to his pretend daughter, her mother, and his own fraught past.