"Cosmic Thunder" is an also ran. Initially, story had a lot of promise. Two young men join a religious cult to eat regular and get a roof over their heads during a '00-somthing great depression. Oddly, the story is told in the first person, and you never find out the narrator's real name. While they are scamming the cult they come in contact with mystical aliens who roam Earth at will. Most of the narrative involves the other man Nastor or Theshei (his cult name) who has near superhuman capabilities. He should be wearing a cape and a mask.

The two guys joining a cult to get out of the rain and the narrator's real conversion being played off against the rogue Threshei was interesting. Theshei's rush to contact the aliens wrapped the story around an axle of metaphysics and aliens. The ending reminded me of a Trek episode.

This is and excellent book which includes my three favorite elements in a story: Science Fiction, Happy Endings, and something that can test my intelligence.

In response to the review above, in my opinion the narrator's original name was William Watkins.

We've been passing this one around among the Religion students. It is a rare mix of good writing, humor, thoughtful understanding of cults - and a really luminous understanding of Gnosticism.