THE TROUBLE WITH LAZY ETHEL

Mr. Gann's newest book meets standard specifications; a plot that begins and ends; a background to interest men and intrigue women; romance, tragedy, and surprisingly a fair amount of comedy. Pike, a retired Brigadier General, is called upon to govern a small atoll, one of several attendant on a giant nuclear test in the Pacific. Pike is God for a while- or feels like it; he can create a world of his own with the help of engineers in just seven days. But he can't handle his wife -who drinks, or the natives who are better-mannered than he is, or the weatherman Adam Smith who falsifies the reports to make a fool of him. However, real weather exists- Lazy Ethel- and the book reaches its climax with her devastating appearance. If obstreperous, the spectacular elements here are aimed at the large screen; for the home viewer, they offer a reliably popular entertainment- not to be minimized.