by Andrew Cuomo
At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary Michael Torres stares at the budget charts spread across his conference table. The numbers tell a brutal story: funding has plummeted from $25 billion in 1996 to dangerous lows by 2000. Torres knows that restoring public confidence in HUD will require more than financial recovery. He must navigate political pressure, bureaucratic resistance, and community skepticism while implementing the agency's ambitious 2020 Management Reform Plan. The plan focuses on two critical areas that could either save HUD or destroy what remains of its credibility. As Torres battles to transform the agency from within, he discovers that building new markets and communities requires confronting the old systems that created the crisis. His fight becomes personal when he realizes that failure means abandoning millions of Americans who depend on HUD programs for housing and hope.
Genres: business, politics, 21st-century, government
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: against-the-odds, underdog
Setting: Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD
Period: 1996, 2000, 2020
Paperback · Diane Pub Co