New York, New York - In her debut novel, author Kat Tang depicts the potential endgame of a gig economy in which strangers can be hired to play a variety of roles in one's life. Sitting down with TAG24, Tang discussed how she crafted the distant – yet not unfamiliar – world of Five-Star Stranger.

Five-Star Stranger, which hit bookstores in August, follows an unnamed protagonist – simply referred to as Stranger – who is a top-rated employee on an app called "Rental Stranger."

The platform allows users to hire someone to take on a specific role in their life, be it an extra partygoer or a swoon-worthy plus-one to make an ex jealous.

But by far the most notable job Stranger has taken on has been a continual one as the pretend father to a young girl named Lily – who is unaware of the truth.

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"I heard about this idea of rental families in Japan back in 2017 or so," Tang told TAG24.

"That idea really stuck with me. Who are the people who are so lonely that they would want to rent someone like that – or even more interesting to me was what kind of people would take on that sort of role?"

These questions are directly explored through Stranger's characterization as the novel unpacks what led him to take on the role of a Rental Stranger.

"I wanted it to be about this guy who was unhappy and unsettled in himself, but tried to cover all of that up by making other people happy and doing work for other people," Tang said. "That was something that I was really interested in, and the narrator just took shape from there."

While the concept of "renting" strangers may sound like something out of a Black Mirror episode, in an era where there's an app for just about everything, the world of Five-Star Stranger isn't as foreign as we may want to believe.

"I sort of based it on my experiences on dating apps and things like that – a combination of dating apps and like DoorDash or Taskrabbit," Tang said of the fictional Rental Stranger app.

"Just smashing all these things together to create this app where you can rent people as easily as you can order food."

As the story unfolds, Stranger's connections with others evoke questions about authenticity.

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While Stranger and Lily's mother are aware of the role being a "job," Lily believes Stranger to be her real father, and with the enigmatic figure taking on much of the duties that role would entail, the lines are soon blurred between a genuine and commercialized relationship.

"One thing that was interesting for me while writing the story was trying to think about what it is about certain relationships that makes that relationship 'real.'" Tang explained.

"What is it about being a father or a father figure that makes that a real, genuine relationship? What is it about a friend? What is it about a lover? And how can I write this character who is able to mimic those things?"

Five-Stranger Stranger may leave readers with more questions than answers, but as technology continues to intertwine itself in the most intimate areas of our lives, these "what if's" can no longer be ignored.

For more on the hottest new book releases, check out TAG24's exclusive chats with authors Marissa Stapley and Madeline Martin.