I am reading an excellent book themed around biochemical warfare and a terrorist plot. I'm at the 25% mark, according to my Kindle.

So far, every single character (with the exception of a courtesy escort) has been named. I write down names when I'm starting with an author new to me, because sometimes this happens.

I count 22 characters so far, plus an unnamed wife and two children, victims of the terrorists. It's unclear who the characters will be who drive the story (and need to be remembered in some detail) and who are peripheral characters, since every actor is introduced with a fairly extensive background and given dialog which brings out the personality of the person and his relationship to the protagonist (or antagonist).

It's pretty obvious who is the protagonist (after all, his name is on the cover of the book) and who is his nemesis, the recurring FBI and biochemist specialists are probably important, but the rest? Are they window dressing? Will they pop up again and later play a crucial role? Do I have to remember the name of the hero's ex? The informant who is killed? Who knows?

So I have this list of people and brief notes about each. I wish the names of the main characters could be italicized or something, or hyperlinked back to the original introduction, so that tracking were easier.

Well, anyway, it's an excellent novel and I'm definitely hooked. Back to reading and notating names....