This novel revolves around a New York City gig worker who offers his services on an app called Rental Stranger. The 20-something narrator, known only as Stranger, takes on such roles as mourner at a funeral, best man at a wedding, and wingman for a pickup artist. Each time out, he strives to make his clients happy enough to give him a five-star review, and his peculiar backstory explains his diligence: after his mother’s death 10 years earlier, he found purpose by visiting his nine-year-old neighbor Lily once a week and pretending to be her father (the real father doesn’t know Lily exists). Stranger, who is still pretending to be Lily’s dad, divulges this secret to a woman who hires him to help develop her novel-in-progress by playing one of the characters and peppers him with questions about his work.
