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The Honeypot
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.
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.
143 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2025
About the author
Russell Guy
4 booksRussell Guy – short biography
Russell Guy’s short story What’s Rangoon to You is Grafton to Me first appeared in Tracks Australian surfing magazine in 1978. Broadcast later that year on ABC Rock radio 2JJ, it was an instant hit. It has been repeatedly broadcast and gained a cult following.
It was published as the title of a collection of short stories (Imprint, A&R. 1991) and was adapted for the stage (Metro Theatre, Brisbane, 1992).
'Baptised Among Crocodiles - A history of the Daintree Aboriginal Mission 1940 – 1962' was published in 2000 by the Queensland Government and is now re-published by Boolarong Press, Brisbane. 2015. See www.russellguy.com.au for details.
DRY CROSSING, a novel published in 2015, "is a road novel that actually goes somewhere... an unfashionable tale of redemption, told in a time of fashionable atheism. The book’s main character, Dizzy Roundabout, is a burnt-out refugee from an Aboriginal rock ‘n’ roll band and as the protagonist’s name might suggest, there is a subtle overlay of allegory to this modern morality tale” - Alice Online.
Check out other reviews at http://russellguy.com.au/index.php/ab...
Russell Guy’s short story What’s Rangoon to You is Grafton to Me first appeared in Tracks Australian surfing magazine in 1978. Broadcast later that year on ABC Rock radio 2JJ, it was an instant hit. It has been repeatedly broadcast and gained a cult following.
It was published as the title of a collection of short stories (Imprint, A&R. 1991) and was adapted for the stage (Metro Theatre, Brisbane, 1992).
'Baptised Among Crocodiles - A history of the Daintree Aboriginal Mission 1940 – 1962' was published in 2000 by the Queensland Government and is now re-published by Boolarong Press, Brisbane. 2015. See www.russellguy.com.au for details.
DRY CROSSING, a novel published in 2015, "is a road novel that actually goes somewhere... an unfashionable tale of redemption, told in a time of fashionable atheism. The book’s main character, Dizzy Roundabout, is a burnt-out refugee from an Aboriginal rock ‘n’ roll band and as the protagonist’s name might suggest, there is a subtle overlay of allegory to this modern morality tale” - Alice Online.
Check out other reviews at http://russellguy.com.au/index.php/ab...
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