For Human Use - by Sarah G Pierce (Paperback)

About the Book

"LIV is the #1 dating app in the world. Life with a living partner can be tricky. But LIV offers a solution! Date a corpse. Romantic relationships mean having tough conversations and rough patches. An embalmed body, though? Well, they've got no opinions, desires, or complex emotional responses. What was once taboo is now a booming business. At the center of this revolution are three living, breathing humans who all feel quite differently about the new world they've built. Tom is the venture capitalist rockstar who's mortified he's funding the whole thing. Auden is LIV's visionary founder who's ready to see his app succeed no matter what. And Mara is caught in the middle. Auden loves her, and Tom is infatuated, but she's really only interested in finding out where her life could go next. Forging a business relationship based on a dating app for corpses is one thing. But navigating a messy love triangle will be almost impossible"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

An unforgettable debut, For Human Use is a twisted tale of modern love that bends every genre, sears itself into your brain, and presents a horrific romantic comedy unlike anything you've ever read before.

Modern dating is dead.

Finding a human connection online has become impossible. Enter Liv: a dating app that matches people with dead bodies. Somehow, it has taken the world by storm. Millions of users are convinced that life with a corpse presents a better alternative to conventional relationships.

Flailing against Liv's popularity, venture capital superstar Tom Williamson--whose company is funding Liv --isn't buying it. Mostly because dating an embalmed cadaver, let alone monetizing it, is obscene.

Believing that Liv is the future, Auden White, the insufferable "visionary" behind the app begins demanding more and more funding, quickly making enemies with Tom.

It's no secret that Tom struggles with people, dead or alive, but when he has a chance meeting with the woman who knows Auden (and his secrets) best, Mara Reed, he realizes everything is about to change for all three of them.

With Liv's userbase growing by the day, the need for cadavers rapidly increases. Humanity might not want to connect with other living, breathing people anymore, but they do want to connect with something. What could go wrong?

Review Quotes

"A razor-sharp satire of venture capitalism, online influence culture, and The Discourse, Pierce holds a mirror to an all-too familiar reality where the unthinkable becomes thinkable if there's profit to be made and prestige to be gained. A human romance in a world gasping for human connection, this one goes places!"
--Bitter Karella, author of Moonflow

"From the crackling dialogue to the cracking pace, FOR HUMAN USE is a surprising and stunning literary debut--a smart horrormance packed with big ideas and brilliant satire on both today's dating scene and the world of investment capital."
--Craig DiLouie, author of My Ex, the Antichrist

About the Author

A writer and photographer with a Master's in Art History, Sarah currently lives in Manhattan with her poker-playing husband (whom she met on a dating app for living people), and their son.