I didn't read the book, I listened to the audio book, which has the distinction of being read by Bernard Cribbins himself. While it's nice to get a Wilf adventure... it's also by Gary Russell, and I pretty much cannot abide his writing. His prose, his guest characters, his plots, none of them ever work for me.
Cribbins covers a multitude of sins, however, and the stuff with the regulars (the Doctor, Donna, Wilf, Sylvia) is quite good. I don't know if the novel's better-- it could have been roughly abridged for all I know.