The Garin Death Ray — Alexei Tolstoy

Plot: The year 1925. The Russian engineer Pyotr Garin is sought because of his invention of the hyperboloid heat ray. A double of him is found murdered in the dacha he was using as a laboratory and others seek to either kill or buy his idea as he flees from Paris to London, hiding in secret locations. This is a story of an attempt to use a remarkable invention to establish the absolute power of one man throughout the world. Garin, inventor of a powerful death ray, also aims at subjugating the majority of the world's population by means of a "little operation" to their brains which will make slaves of them, willing to work, like beasts of burden, for their food alone, so that the chosen few, the "patricians," might live a life of pleasure. The scheme is countered by the champions of the common people, two bold fighters - young Gusev and the fearless Shelga.