When tender-hearted geeky teenage Luke rescues a lizard in a thunderstorm on kunanyi, he has no idea it will have a mind of its own.

Or eat quite so much. Or grow so fast.

Or resemble Tasmania's lost dinosaur.

Suddenly Alexander the lizard becomes an immensely valuable object, sought by cold-blooded and violent people.

Luke's brains and compassion won't be enough to protect Alexander - something his anarchic sister Gatta could have told him - not even with help from the fearsome Shona, paleogeologist and AFLW Goddess.

Meanwhile Alexander - teeth, claws and appetite - is growing, changing and learning to communicate.

Can Luke find his own ferocity and ruthlessness to counter the odds stacked against them?

A sci-fi romp through present day Hobart - featuring zoology, comparative anatomy and venture capitalism - that asks deeper questions about human responsibility towards animals, the earth and each other, and the truth that power goes to the person most prepared to wield it.

The Diemen Alexander is an adventure full of narrow escapes and fail-to-escapes, an XH Holden ute, shameful misuse of really excellent whisky, and a distressing amount of fast food.