diff --git a/request.go b/request.go
index b60968a..31afb77 100644
--- a/request.go
+++ b/request.go
@@ -65,7 +65,13 @@ func UnmarshalPayload(in io.Reader, model interface{}) error {
 
 }
 
-func unmarshalNode(data *Node, model reflect.Value, included *map[string]*Node) error {
+func unmarshalNode(data *Node, model reflect.Value, included *map[string]*Node) (err error) {
+	defer func() {
+		if r := recover(); r != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("data is not a jsonapi representation of '%v'", model.Type())
+		}
+	}()
+
 	modelValue := model.Elem()
 	modelType := model.Type().Elem()
 
diff --git a/request_test.go b/request_test.go
index 4143f01..c4a1d7c 100644
--- a/request_test.go
+++ b/request_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"io"
 	"regexp"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -27,6 +28,17 @@ func TestMalformedTag(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestUnmarshalInvalidJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	in := strings.NewReader("{}")
+	out := new(Blog)
+
+	err := UnmarshalPayload(in, out)
+
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Did not error out the invalid JSON.")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestUnmarshalSetsId(t *testing.T) {
 	in := samplePayloadWithId()
 	out := new(Blog)