A provocative new Outback novel by award-winning writer and broadcaster Russell Guy
John Booke, a farmer’s son from south-east Queensland, is on the run—caught up in the fallout of an affair he never knew was illicit. With a price on his head, he escapes to a lonely Outback roadhouse where he hopes anonymity will keep him safe.
But anonymity is short-lived. After an unexpected moment at a funeral is perceived as a miracle, the neighbouring Indigenous community begin referring to him as an “ingkarte”—a man of God. Despite his shaky faith and a life shaped by the dislocations of the sexual revolution, Booke finds himself reluctantly stepping into the role of missionary, spiritual guide and reformer.
The roadhouse becomes a crucible.
Bruce Shepherd, an Indigenous activist who has traded city life for his grandmother’s world of traditional art, watches Booke with curiosity.
Cheeseburger, the roadhouse cook, digs too deeply into Booke’s past.
And Rhonda, a former rock guitarist living quietly in a caravan, holds secrets of her own.
Amid Indigenous artists, grey nomads, roadhouse politics, outback humour and a “river of grog” that divides the community, Booke searches for moral footing in a place where truth, identity and belonging have never been more contested.
The Honey Pot is at once a story of flight and arrival, fear and courage, and of the fragile bridges built between cultures on Australia’s remote mulga plains.
Q: Where is John Booke from? ANSWER: South-East Queenslandhttps://goodreadingmagazine.snapforms.com.au/form/free-february-06---the-honeypotTerms And Conditions Of Entry
1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 6 February 2026 to 7 February 2026. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in February 2026 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in February 2026.
