diff --git a/.changeset/purple-crews-shake.md b/.changeset/purple-crews-shake.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f91d867
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/purple-crews-shake.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@nornir/rest": patch
+---
+
+Handle bad content types and invalid payloads
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 1587e7f..3f3bb32 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 env:
   NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
+  GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
 jobs:
   unit-tests:
     name: Run unit tests for this service
diff --git a/packages/rest/__tests__/src/parse.spec.mts b/packages/rest/__tests__/src/parse.spec.mts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73c77b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/rest/__tests__/src/parse.spec.mts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import {httpEventParser, NornirParseError, UnparsedHttpEvent} from "../../dist/runtime/index.mjs";
+
+describe("Parsing", () => {
+    it("Should throw correct error on failure to parse", () => {
+        const parser = httpEventParser()
+
+        const event: UnparsedHttpEvent = {
+            headers: {
+                "content-type": "application/json"
+            },
+            rawBody: Buffer.from("not json"),
+            method: "GET",
+            path: "/",
+            rawQuery: ""
+        }
+
+        expect(() => parser(event)).toThrow(NornirParseError)
+    })
+})
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/runtime/error.mts b/packages/rest/src/runtime/error.mts
index e5a3b50..e57140a 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/runtime/error.mts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/runtime/error.mts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ export abstract class NornirRestError extends Error implements NodeJS.ErrnoExcep
 /**
  * Error type for exceptions that require information about the request.
  */
-export abstract class NornirRestRequestError<Request extends HttpRequest> extends NornirRestError {
+export abstract class NornirRestRequestError<Request extends HttpRequest = HttpRequest> extends NornirRestError {
     constructor(
         public readonly request: Request,
         message: string
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ export abstract class NornirRestRequestError<Request extends HttpRequest> extend
     abstract toHttpResponse(registry: AttachmentRegistry): HttpResponse | Promise<HttpResponse>;
 }
 
+
 interface ErrorMapping {
     errorMatch(error: unknown): boolean;
     toHttpResponse(error: unknown, registry: AttachmentRegistry): HttpResponse | Promise<HttpResponse>;
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/runtime/index.mts b/packages/rest/src/runtime/index.mts
index bbe738d..9e13937 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/runtime/index.mts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/runtime/index.mts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ export {
 export {RouteHolder, NornirRestRequestValidationError} from './route-holder.mjs'
 export {NornirRestRequestError, NornirRestError, httpErrorHandler, mapError, mapErrorClass} from './error.mjs'
 export {ApiGatewayProxyV2, startLocalServer} from "./converters.mjs"
-export {httpEventParser, HttpBodyParser, HttpBodyParserMap, HttpQueryStringParser} from "./parse.mjs"
+export {httpEventParser, HttpBodyParser, HttpBodyParserMap, HttpQueryStringParser, NornirParseError} from "./parse.mjs"
 export {httpResponseSerializer, HttpBodySerializer, HttpBodySerializerMap} from "./serialize.mjs"
 export {normalizeEventHeaders, normalizeHeaders, getContentType} from "./utils.mjs"
 export {Router} from "./router.mjs"
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/runtime/parse.mts b/packages/rest/src/runtime/parse.mts
index 2e086d7..992489a 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/runtime/parse.mts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/runtime/parse.mts
@@ -1,12 +1,33 @@
-import {HttpEvent, MimeType, UnparsedHttpEvent} from "./http-event.mjs";
+import {HttpEvent, HttpResponse, HttpStatusCode, MimeType, UnparsedHttpEvent} from "./http-event.mjs";
 import querystring from "node:querystring";
 
 import {getContentType} from "./utils.mjs";
+import {NornirRestError} from "./error.mjs";
+import {AttachmentRegistry} from "@nornir/core";
 
 export type HttpBodyParser = (body: Buffer) => unknown
 
 export type HttpBodyParserMap = Partial<Record<MimeType | "default", HttpBodyParser>>
 
+export class NornirParseError extends NornirRestError {
+    constructor(cause: Error) {
+        super("Failed to parse request. Bad content-type or invalid body", cause)
+        this.cause = cause;
+    }
+
+    public toHttpResponse(): HttpResponse {
+        return {
+            statusCode: HttpStatusCode.UnprocessableEntity,
+            headers: {
+              "content-type": MimeType.TextPlain,
+            },
+            body: {
+                message: this.message,
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 export type HttpQueryStringParser = (query: string) => HttpEvent["query"]
 const DEFAULT_BODY_PARSERS: HttpBodyParserMap & {"default": HttpBodyParser} = {
     "application/json": (body) => JSON.parse(body.toString("utf8")),
@@ -21,12 +42,16 @@ export function httpEventParser(bodyParserMap?: HttpBodyParserMap, queryStringPa
         ...bodyParserMap
     };
     return (event: UnparsedHttpEvent): HttpEvent => {
-        const contentType = getContentType(event.headers) || "default";
-        const bodyParser = bodyParsers[contentType] || bodyParsers["default"];
-        return {
-            ...event,
-            body: bodyParser(event.rawBody),
-            query: queryStringParser(event.rawQuery),
+        try {
+            const contentType = getContentType(event.headers) || "default";
+            const bodyParser = bodyParsers[contentType] || bodyParsers["default"];
+            return {
+                ...event,
+                body: bodyParser(event.rawBody),
+                query: queryStringParser(event.rawQuery),
+            }
+        } catch (error) {
+            throw new NornirParseError(error as Error)
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/runtime/router.mts b/packages/rest/src/runtime/router.mts
index 0164499..2be596c 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/runtime/router.mts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/runtime/router.mts
@@ -99,3 +99,4 @@ export class NornirRouteNotFoundError extends NornirRestRequestError<HttpRequest
         }
     }
 }
+