A Serum that makes you smarter is offered to a young man after he rescues a scientist from a mugging. The government are chasing him in relation to a new missile guidance system with facial recognition.

[Mr Alasdair Carnie]

A young man rescues an older man from being mugged. The man offers him a serum that will make him smarter. 1 injection per week. As the weeks progress he gets smarter and smarter. His guitar playing skills improve as do his relationship skills with his girlfriend. There is a scene where he is performing reflexology on his girlfriend with interesting results. Government (I think FBI) people appear and tell him that the man is a rogue scientist and that the serum is made using people. They are not sure what he is planning but it is related to a new missile guidance system. I remember that the story ends on a beach with the rogue scientist being killed by a missile.

I read this book, probably between 2000 and 2005, but it moght have been a little earlier.

[Kris]

What's the genre (which we need to add to the header/ topic title) - e.g., adult science fiction, thriller?

[Tab]

It appears the book was published under two different titles. It looks like the books are by the same author, but one is written under a pen name.

Kingdom of the Blind
Genius