THE BITE Rave reviews greeted the debut of undercover Baltimore County narcotics cop Luther Ewing. In The Bite, this edgy black-Vietnamese Special Forces veteran is trying hard to chill, staying away from anything more dangerous than busting teenagers with Ecstasy or scouring the deep woods for crystal meth cooked up by rednecks and bikers. But one night someone takes a shot at Luther with a .45 in his own peaceful suburban parking lot-someone who's careful not to kill him. Who? Why? And what's the message?  Then brash, sexy DEA agent Francesca Russo elbows her way into his life, in a joint operation they pull off with suspicious ease. But it turns out she has her own agenda-to take over the crank business from the inside-and wants Luther on her team. He has a simple, stark choice: turn rogue and clean up Russo and her mob himself or call in the feds on one of their own. Staccato violence, gut-real characters, and miles of style keep The Bite's pages turning until the last clip has been emptied.