In the middle of summer, an ice floe materializes in New York harbor, leaving two ships in distress. During the ensuing confusion, a strange black aircraft descends and hovers over the scene before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Shortly after, several more ice “cakes” form without warning in the Straits of Gibraltar, Folkestone Harbor, and Yokohama.

With panic mounting across the globe, a manifesto is sent to the British government from a man named Wladislaw Varrhus, who announces his intention to assume control of all world governments and establish himself as dictator. If the nations fail to meet his demands, more waterways will be frozen, disrupting commerce.

The American military consults with one Professor Hawkins and his assistant Teddy Gerrod, who develop a method to neutralize Varrhus’s “cold bombs”—but the deranged inventor is not so easily foiled. He not only returns with an improved version of his cold bomb, but murders Professor Hawkins in revenge. With the help of the professor’s daughter, Evelyn, and an American pilot named Davis, Teddy devises a plan to defeat Varrhus.

A Thousand Degrees Below Zero was Murray Leinster’s (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) first published novella, featured in the July 1919 edition of The Thrill Book pulp magazine. It’s a typical Leinster story with two-dimensional protagonists and a plot that relies heavily on the science and technology of the time with inventive twists. A fun science fiction adventure tale that would make an enjoyable TV movie.