The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Cosby, S. A. Blacktop Wasteland. Flatiron Books eBook, 2020.

In S. A. Cosby's novel Blacktop Wasteland, protagonist, Beauregard Montage struggles to make ends meet. The auto shop, Montage Motors, that he owns with his cousin, Kelvin is struggling. He cannot pay the loan, and is short on rent. To make matters worse, he needs to pay for his mother's care at the nursing home, and cover his son Derren's glasses, and his other son, Javon's braces. His wife, Kia, assures him if he just sold his father Anthony's old car, the Duster, they would be able to survive. Reluctant to give up the vehicle, Beauregard begins considering alternate, and more dangerous, options.

When he hears one of his former partners, Ronnie, and his brother need a getaway driver for a jewelry store heist, he agrees. Though he knows he promised his friends and family not to return to this life, he believes he has no choice. He needs to save his family from financial ruin. Besides, the thrill the job promises to give him is enticing. With his old friend Boonie's help, he secures a vehicle for the job and makes the necessary preparations. Though everyone knows they cannot stop Beauregard, Kia, Boonie, and Kelvin try encouraging Beauregard to be a better man. They know how much he fears turning into his father.

Beauregard ignores their warnings. Meanwhile, whenever he drives around in the Duster, memories of Anthony consume him. He does not want to become him, but his memories illustrate how much he longs for his long-absent father.

When the day of the heist arrives, Beauregard feels good. However, he worries that his partners, Ronnie, Reggie, and Quan might be high. While Beauregard waits for them to finish the job, the men are inside the store botching the plan. A series of mishaps leads Quan to murder a young nameless man. Despite these mistakes, the men escape.

In the days following, Beauregard tries settling into the success of the job, and the monetary comfort his cut afforded him. His attempts at returning to normalcy do not last long. The owner of the jewelry shop is a criminal mastermind named Lazy, and he wants revenge for the robbery. He kidnaps Beauregard, Ronnie, Reggie, and Quan, and demands they help him complete a job for an even more dangerous man, Shade.

Realizing Lazy will kill them whether they complete the job or not, Beauregard devises an alternate plan. Kelvin volunteers his help. Their schemes to dupe Lazy work, until Ronnie betrays the group and shoots Kelvin.

So distraught over his cousin's murder, Beauregard decides he will say goodbye to his family and become a full time criminal. He believes this is who he has always been anyway. He hunts down and kills Ronnie, Reggie, and Lazy.

Before leaving for good, he returns to town to say goodbye to Kia. Though she is upset with his poor choices, she tells him he does not have to leave. If he stays, he can try changing and becoming the man Anthony could never have been.