Do you know the name of a young adult fiction book series that
involved a special wristwatch? The wristwatch was like something you'd
see in a sci-fi movie, with all kinds of secret functions. The one
book from the series that I can remember had something to do with a
missing Japanese sword, and it was called something like, "Duel in
Paradise" or "Duel on the Island". I remember reading this series when
I was a kid in the early 1980s.

Hello.

The series is called "Race Against Time." The author is "J.J.
Fortune." The publisher was Dell. There appear to be 10 books,
published between 1983 and 1985.

The title that you remember seems to be a composite of Book #5 ("Duel
for the Samurai Sword") and Book #6 ("Evil in Paradise")

Your description of the watch was the key to identifying the series.

From the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.written on 2000/01/22:
"the Race Against Time series, featuring a James Bond-clone, his young
nephew sidekick, and a pair of watches that were also supercomputers,
cutting instruments, mirrors for sending signals...you name it."
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=86d007%24s05%40portal.gmu.edu&output=gplain

From the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.written on 1998/11/24:
"'The "Race Against Time' series.  About a kid who's dad is a spy or
something,
but his mom doesn't know.  So every time his mom goes out of town,
they take
off to some exotic locale to beat the bad guys, and have to get back
before
(get this) Time Runs Out (TM)... and the wife gets home and finds out
what
they've been up to.  (The one Bond-like gadget they had was a pair of
watches
that could do anything - in the first book Dad gives his spare to his
son."
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=LCG62.9952%24c8.6330797%40hme2.newscontent-01.sprint.ca&output=gplain

Here are the books and a source for locating each of them (where
available):

"Revenge in the Silent Tomb" (#1)
From half.com:
http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=367616&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1

"Escape from Raven Castle" (#2)
From abebooks.com:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=142348390

"Pursuit of the Deadly Diamonds" (#3)
From half.com (out of stock):
http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=3520253&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1

"Search for Mad Jack's Crown" (#4)
From abebooks.com:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=142346334

"Duel for the Samurai Sword" (#5)
From alibris.com:
http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm?BID=1512481008&S=R

"Evil in Paradise" (#6)
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=74663666

"The Secret of the Third Watch" (#7)
From abebooks.com:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=125275050

"Trapped in the USSR" (#8)
From abebooks.com:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=75765502

"Journey to Atlantis" (#9)
From abebooks.com:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=140963998

"Danger, Due North" (#10)
Listed in the British Public Library Catalog
http://blpc.bl.uk/

search strategy: rec.arts.sf.written, watch, watches, books, series

I hope this helps.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 08 Sep 2002 21:51 PDT

I notice that a used copy of Book #10 ("Danger, Due North") is
available via Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440918650/

Talk about an excellent researcher!!! This is the correct answer to my
question!!!! Thanks!