Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse

This is a Doctor Who spin-off novel, set in the Doctor Who universe with a few characters from Doctor Who, but almost entirely without the Doctor. Can you enjoy it if you don't know Doctor Who? Yes, I think so. You'll know more about the background to the story if you know Doctor Who, but that knowledge isn't essential.It stars River Song, who was played by Alex Kingston on television, and is now written by Alex Kingston—”with Jacqueline Rayner”, it says inside, though not on the cover. The TARDIS doesn't appear, but there is time travel, because River Song has a vortex manipulator: a much smaller time-travel device that is also an established part of the Doctor Who universe.I liked River Song on television, and I liked Alex Kingston; I had no idea whether she could write a novel, but I gave it a try. The result is good, better than I really expected. Well, her half-hidden partner Jacqueline Rayner has made a career out of writing Doctor-Who-related fiction for more than two decades, so she has relevant experience.Considered as a Doctor Who spin-off novel, this is a superior job, well above average. The story is exciting, complex, and well constructed. River Song as a character was created and previously written by Steven Moffat, but here she's maintained credibly; and I imagine that Moffat could genuinely enjoy this continuation of his work. Kingston and Rayner have taken the project seriously and done some historical research for it.Considered as a novel competing with other novels in general, it's a bit of an oddity. There isn't a lot of descriptive text, it concentrates on action and dialogue, so the story is fast-paced but sketchy; and characterization is also rather sketchy. At times I was reminded of Tintin stories: there's a sort of cartoon-strip feel to it. Although the later part of the story gets rather weird by Tintin's standards.Some parts of the story take place in New York in 1939, reminding me of films from around that time—which presumably influenced the authors.Quite early in the story, two prisoners in separate cells of a high-security prison find that they can talk to each other through a ventilation shaft, and their conversation kicks off the plot. There was a very similar plot element in [b:Tiger! Tiger! 1258748 Tiger! Tiger! Alfred Bester https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317025879l/1258748.SY75.jpg 1398442] (1956), and I've been told also in [b:The Count of Monte Cristo 7126 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1611834134l/7126.SY75.jpg 391568] (1846), which I haven't read.So far I've read this book once, and I liked it, so it deserves at least 3 stars. If I like it better on rereading, maybe 4 stars. Bear in mind that, when assigning a rating, I'm comparing it with novels of any kind, outside the Doctor Who context.