<Li> Maurizio Dicandia--One of Cantarella's main advisors . </Li> <Li> Amelia Zanbon--Sandri's 15 - year - old companion . </Li> <P> Two real - life incidents shaped A.J. Quinnell's development of the book . In the first, after the eldest son of a rich Singaporean was kidnapped by Triads for ransom money, the man refused to pay the ransom, leading to the death of his son; the refusal meant that the man's other children would not become targets . The second was the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, the son of Paul Getty, in Rome . </P> <P> On a previous occasion, Quinnell had helped save the life of an Italian man suffering a medical emergency on an airliner flight between Tokyo and Hong Kong . When he began doing research for the book, he contacted the man's family . The family responded by introducing anti-mafia investigators, lawyers, and mafia members to Quinnell . The contacts eagerly helped Quinnell and asked to be named in the book . </P>

Man on fire is it based on a true story