"The Merchant" is the English translation of Paolo Dorsa's best-selling novel "Il Mercante" published in Italy in 2006: a thriller about the dark side of the world's financial systems and the international but illegal trade in arms to poor countries. It is both an exciting adventure novel and a compelling love story. Tonio is the young manager of an Italian bank in Paris. His tranquil life with few emotional ties is shattered by two unexpected encounters which lead to a tense game in which love, friendship and danger change his life for ever. First he meets Irene, a beautiful and rich Sicilian girl who is shopping in Paris in preparation for her wedding. Then a few days later he saves the life of Pierre, a Swiss industrialist who skids off an icy mountain road in front of him. From these two events Tonio finds himself drawn into a tangled and treacherous web in which murder, arms dealers, the underworld of Southern Italy and the guerrillas of North Africa become part of his new life. The story of how he rises to meet the resulting challenges provides a fast-moving thriller combining exciting action, forbidden love and warm compassion.