By the Time I Got to Bogotá
Thomas has spent his career arriving after the fact.
As a private investigator, he has built a life around other people's mistakes, piecing together what happened long after the decisions have been made. Distance has always been part of the job. Close enough to understand the truth, far enough to avoid becoming part of it.
When Elena disappears, months pass without answers. Then, unexpectedly, her sister calls. Elena had been in Bogotá. She is gone again, leaving behind no explanation and only a single address—an unfinished building rising above the city.
Thomas follows the trail into Bogotá's narrow streets, unfinished neighborhoods, and endless traffic. As the city closes around him, memory begins to intrude. A phone left ringing. Promises postponed. Small decisions that once seemed insignificant now reveal themselves as the moments that quietly reshaped a life.
What begins as a search for someone else gradually becomes an examination of himself. Every step toward the address forces Thomas to confront the distance he has always kept between himself and the people who mattered most.
By the Time I Got to Bogotá is a literary noir that explores regret, memory, and the irreversible nature of time. Set against the rain-soaked streets and unfinished skyline of Colombia's capital, it is a quiet, atmospheric novel about the consequences of believing there will always be another opportunity to say the right thing, answer the next call, or arrive at the moment that matters.
Readers who enjoy:
- Literary noir
- Psychological fiction
- Atmospheric, character-driven novels
- Slow-burning stories of memory and consequence
- Contemporary fiction set in Latin America
Book Details
Genre: Literary Noir / Psychological Fiction
Setting: Bogotá, Colombia
Author: E.B. Harding