What to read: The Echidna Strategy and Putin's Prisoner are now on shelves

In the wake of a shift in the global power balance, how can Australia best protect itself? This book overturns the conventional wisdom about Australia's security. Australia will need to defend itself without American help, but this doesn't need to cost more. The truth, Roggeveen says, is that US security is not threatened by China's rise. Despite the rapid growth of China's military, defending Australia need not be particularly difficult. To thrive, Australian foreign policy needs three goals: leadership in the Pacific; a much stronger relationship with Indonesia; and a regional order centred on a gathering of its great powers.

Laura Dodsworth & Patrick Fagan. HarperCollins. $19.99.

There is a war on for your mind. You may not notice, but you are surrounded by manipulators: advertisers, politicians, big tech, even the humble waiter who asks, "Still or sparkling?" In this book, the authors draw on interviews with mind-control experts ranging from monks to magicians, infiltrate cults and forums to uncover their most deceptive techniques and expose the hidden tactics used to influence you, from social media to subliminal messages. Learn how to recognise the nudges, dispel efforts to brainwash you and always question those who say the choice is yours. If you don't control your mind, someone else will.

David Mitchell. Penguin. $36.99.

Mitchell, a British comedian, actor, writer, and TV personality, explores how early England's monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects' destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky so-and-sos who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits. Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England up to the reign of Elizabeth I (spoiler: she dies). It's a tale of narcissists, inadequate self-control, middle-management insurrection and uncivil wars, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed king.

Aiden Aslin with John Sweeney. Penguin. $35.

This is British-born Ukrainian marine Aiden Aslin's account of the time he spent six months in Russian captivity. He joined the Ukrainian marines in 2018, compelled to defend his adopted homeland from the growing threat of Russian invasion. In April 2022 he was part of a mass surrender and, singled out for his British passport, he was interrogated, tortured, stabbed, turned into a propaganda zombie, tried by a kangaroo court and then sentenced to death. He was eventually freed in a prisoner exchange and permitted to return home.

Rachel Matthews. Transit Lounge Publishing. $32.99

This tragicomic romance by the author of Vinyl Inside and Siren is exceedingly contemporary: it is set in Melbourne in 2023. It features: cremation bling, pineapple underwear, grief and vaccinated cruise ships. The central characters Bernard, Goldie and Minh are everything TED Talks tell you not to be. The story tackles the absurdity of despair in a recovering world, the liberation from isolation and the wild frontier of middle-aged Tinder.

Megan Goldin. Penguin. $32.99..

Suspected serial killer Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison when he gets a surprise visit from hot young influencer Maddison Logan. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she's been kidnapped - or worse. When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly calls in true-crime podcaster Rachel Krall for help in finding the missing influencer who seems to exist only on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Rachel discovers that some social media influencers have secrets, and some of them can be deadly.

Melissa Ashley. Affirm Press. $39.99.

This work of historical fiction by the author of The Birdman's Wife begins in Amsterdam at the turn of the 18th century. Dorothea Graff's life has been lived in service to her mother, the brilliant naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. When Maria decides to go to South America, Dorothea decides to join her. The Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname will be Maria's masterpiece, but ensuring its legacy - and her own survival - will become her daughter's burden. When offered a chance of happiness, will Dorothea have the courage to take it, and risk everything her mother built?

Susan Duncan. Allen & Unwin. $32.99.

When five retired couples in their late 70s pool their resources to live in a house located where a turquoise lagoon meets the sea, the quirky little offshore community of Cook's Basin is shocked. How can 10 people - one in a wheelchair and one with a hauntingly familiar face - survive where the only way in or out is by boat? When a member of the household is found floating face-down in the bay, the police insist the death was accidental but the bizarre circumstances have locals scratching their heads. Former journalist turned café owner Kate Jackson is curious and a throw-away line in an old magazine story leads to shocking revelations.

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