David Simon made five seasons of universally acclaimed TV show The Wire, and now he's written the introduction to Rafael Alvarez's The Wire: Truth Be Told to give the full story behind the show. But it gets better: we have an exclusive audio clip of Simon himself reading his introduction to the book, explaining what it's all about. Listen for yourself below.
For the three of you who haven't yet joined the Wire groupies, it's a minutely detailed, impressively acted and brilliantly structured look at the war on drugs in Baltimore, Maryland, seen through the eyes of cops (using wire-taps, hence the name), dealers and those caught inbetween. Each season takes a different focus, but the overall structure and many of the characters remain the same over the show's entire run.
The Wire: Truth Be Told is out now from Canongate, priced at £20, and the whole series is also out on DVD, so if you want more go investigate! We doubt you'll need any actual phone taps though.